A PC gamer transformed some of their Steam game library into cartridges using some spare 2.5″ solid-state drives (SSD). Although Steam is primarily known for its vast digital library, the custom game cartridge system is one way that some PC games can be preserved by users.
For over two decades, Steam has been the most popular storefront for PC games across the industry. Though physical Steam games were once common in the late 2000s to early 2010s, the majority of games currently available on Valve’s storefront are exclusively digital. With PlayStation receiving backlash for moving away from physical media in favor of digital exclusivity for the next console generation, users have flocked to Steam in response to the pending moves.
Steam User Shows Impressive PC Game Cartridge System
Though physical game discs are not as profitable as digital copies, one Steam user shared a clever method that they crafted for playing some of their favorite PC games. A Reddit user named Jibril-sama shared a short video demonstrating their custom Steam game cartridge setup on their Linux PC. The cartridge creator said they used some cheap 2.5″ SSDs with a capacity of 128GB each as the main basis. Each SSD was then placed in a colorful 3D-printed cartridge that also showed the game’s key art on the top side. The OP then picked up a purple Steam cartridge containing Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon and inserted it into a customized SATA dock. Once plugged in, Armored Core 6 was ready to play within a second.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Guess the games from the emojis.
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Along with Armored Core 6, some of the Steam games that the OP converted to cartridges included Monster Hunter World, Cyberpunk 2077, and Forza Horizon 5. In a Tom’s Hardware interview, Jibril-sama said that each SSD utilized a custom script to automatically navigate to each game’s Steam page and boot up the game shortly after. Valve’s Steam URL Protocol was then leveraged in the background. The cartridge creator then said that their system was made as a way to play titles that they did not play often. Additionally, the 2.5″ SSDs they purchased for their Steam game cartridges were €7, or roughly $8, on the secondhand market.
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While Jibril-sama stated that they did not use cartridges for live-service titles, they stated that if a game required an update, they would let Steam handle it. In response, most users stated they felt inspired to try something similar with their own Steam library. Other users stated that they could do the same with PC games on other storefronts, such as GOG. In light of Sony’s controversial choice to move away from physical discs by 2028, GOG recently reaffirmed its support for using physical media as a way to back up games available on its platform.
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Given that the ongoing DRAM shortage crisis has caused the prices of RAM and SSDs to skyrocket throughout 2026, the fact that the aforementioned Steam cartridge system uses secondhand drives is an economical solution. It remains to be seen how many users try to create a PC game cartridge system of their own.
