Game On: Latest in Gaming News, Reviews & Industry Buzz
- GOG shows how to save offline installers to a disc so purchasers can keep playable copies without storefront permission.
- Not every title is on PC or GOG, notably third-party libraries like Ubisoft, limiting preservation options.
- Always-online games can be preserved but become unplayable if servers shut down despite having local copies.
- When online storefronts go offline, purchased downloads become inaccessible; PlayStation Store closures and alternatives like Microsoft's disc-to-digital idea matter.
- GOG's DIY method is a Band-Aid; broader legal or policy change may be necessary for true digital ownership.
In the wake of the news that Sony will end PlayStation disc production by 2028, a lot of folks are expressing their disgust at the idea of a digital-only game library. But players aren’t the only ones sharing their frustration–today, GOG.com joined the conversation with a short tutorial showing players how to physically preserve their digital games.
“Download the offline installer of any of your games on GOG, save it to a disc, and it’s yours forever,” the digital gaming storefront shared in an X post. “You don’t need a storefront’s permission to play what you bought.”
Of course, this doesn’t perfectly solve the problem. Not every game is available on PC, not every game is available for purchase on GOG (like Ubisoft’s game catalogue, for example), and some games–though they may be technically preservable on a disc–won’t necessarily be playable.
“Unless it’s an always-online game and they shut down the servers,” one X user replied to GOG’s post. “You own it, you have it, but you can’t play it.”
But that was already the case long before Sony began manifesting its vision of a discless future. Always-online games have always been beholden to the whims of whatever entity pays their server costs. The issue GOG is hoping to address here is the disappearance of online storefronts. When they go offline–as the PlayStation Store on PS3 and Vita will next summer–any digital games that players have purchased but don’t have installed on the console will become inaccessible for them to download. (Although Microsoft, at least, seems to be toying with a disc-to-digital plan that would allow players to retain access to the games they’ve bought.)
GOG’s do-it-yourself solution is a Band-Aid for a much bigger problem–one that might require lawmakers to intervene if players ever hope to truly own their digital games. But it’s certainly better than nothing.
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