Physical media is present in the news cycle quite a bit of late, what with the latest news from Xbox about its disc-to-digital program. Then there's PlayStation's double whammy of removing digital content from libraries and then announcing it will be stopping new game discs from 2028.
The move to all-digital has been on the cards for some time, and PC gamers have already long embraced that future. But in a bizarre twist of fate, it seems some are reversing this process and actually starting to make their own physical copies of digital PC games.
I stumbled across a YouTube video by Archades Games (which is embedded below) that's been up for many months, but nevertheless, its subject matter made me click. On PC there's quite often a way where there's a will, and with GOG especially, it's actually pretty easy to create your own physical installer for your game library.
Of course, it requires having the necessary hardware to do it, and Blu-ray drives (like everything else) have been getting more expensive in recent years. But if you have a drive and some discs, there's little else to stop you.
There's a wider discussion that is ongoing regarding game preservation and generally good data backup habits. But in this specific instance, GOG will offer DRM-free offline installers, and the right Blu-ray discs can last at least your own lifetime, and potentially many more besides.
The process itself seems pretty straightforward, though the video and a follow-up, which goes into more depth, including multi-disc scenarios, walk you through every step. Multi-disc is certainly something you'd need for Cyberpunk 2077.
Essentially you need a Blu-ray or DVD drive capable of writing to discs, the right discs, a copy of MakeMKV (which, as the site is currently offline, you'll have to grab from an archived version of the page), and ImgBurn to both create an ISO file and burn it to the disc.
Archades Games goes one step further and even creates a nice-looking label for the discs, just to add a finishing touch. Though that's entirely optional.
You can also write your own autorun file to add to the disc so that when you insert it into a PC, it will immediately open up the installer. Just like in the old days when you'd buy a big box PC game.
I haven't tried this yet, and I'm not necessarily sure I will. But recent events have certainly made me start to think about "ownership." I don't own anything in my Steam library; I don't own any of the digital movies I've bought over the years from Apple, Google, and Amazon. Long-term rentals are only fine as long as the rights holders say so.
I've been buying up physical copies of movies I only have digitally on Blu-ray and creating a digital copy of those Blu-rays to store on my NAS. I'm not suggesting it's practical to create a full library of PC games on disc, and in many cases, you can't get new releases on GOG or anywhere else with an offline installer.
But preservation is something we should all care about. I've thought more and more about it as my children are growing up and I'm able to enjoy content with them. My son is absolutely loving being able to play games on Xbox from before he was born, and much of that is thanks to backwards compatibility.
But we also have an Xbox 360 running every day right now, with physical copies of games that we can use for as long as the disc lasts.
The idea of "cold storing" important data on Blu-ray discs is something I've been toying with, too. With the right discs, such as M-Discs designed for archiving, that data can be preserved for centuries. So long as you have a way in the future of actually reading them, of course.
It might be a fun project for game installers, but for treasured memories, photo libraries, and things that are irreplaceable, having a copy that could stand the test of time is looking more important. Good backup processes are something we should all be doing.
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