Steam Players Discover Innovative Solutions for a Fully Digital Gaming Landscape

With Sony’s recent decision to end support for physical games on its consoles, many gamers are understandably anxious about the implications for game ownership. Others are simply nostalgic for the tactile experience of physical media.

In a creative twist, a Reddit user has developed a “game cartridge” system for Steam. They’ve installed select games on 2.5-inch external SSDs and crafted a script to launch them automatically through Steam. By plugging the SSD into a dock on their desk, the setup boots up seamlessly, freeing up space on their main drive while looking sleek. The post has garnered over 17,000 upvotes and nearly a thousand comments, with one user noting, “We’ve officially come full circle. Physical media for PC is back, and it looks gorgeous.”

While Steam’s rise helped usher in a digital-first approach to PC gaming, rival platform GOG has pushed back against this trend in a recent social media post.

Unlike Steam, GOG offers offline installers, allowing users to burn games to physical discs and play them without needing an internet connection. Many modern games rely on “online” or “live” installers that connect to a server for patches during installation. In contrast, offline installers are self-contained executables that don’t require an internet connection — you download it once, save it to a disc or drive, and run it. This means users can truly back up their games without being tied to digital storefronts.

GOG’s ability to support offline installers stems from its DRM-free model. Digital Rights Management is often employed by companies to combat piracy, typically requiring users to create accounts or maintain an internet connection.

When purchasing games from digital storefronts like Steam, PlayStation Network, Nintendo eShop, and Xbox’s store, players don’t actually “own” the games. Instead, they acquire a license for digital access, which can be revoked at the storefront’s discretion. This can happen due to expired contracts or the shutdown of older console stores. For example, Sony recently removed over 500 films from customers’ PlayStation accounts, including classics like Terminator 2, citing “contract licensing disagreements” with the distributor. If you had purchased any of those films, they could vanish from your library without warning.

These ownership issues are a significant factor in the backlash against Sony’s announcement to cease physical game production starting in January 2028. In response, developers on GitHub have showcased progress in PS5 emulators, as players seek alternative ways to access games they’ve purchased but may soon be unable to play.

While full PlayStation 5 emulation is still a few years off, Sony’s recent choices may have accelerated the development process.