PlayStation, Xbox gamers just realising their physical games have an expiry date

Physical media is important, so if you have a massive collection of Xbox, PlayStation or any other console’s discs/cartridges it’s important to take care of them, now more than ever.

Many favour physical media as digital games nowadays are all basically licenses, and we all remember Ubisoft saying people need to get comfortable with the idea of not owning their games don’t we?

Speaking of Ubisoft, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is out this month and it looks like that delay has done it a lot of good

While your digital games could become inaccessible one day, it turns out the same could happen to your physical games as well if they’re not cared for, as discovered by TheGamer’s Eric Switzer.

Eric wrote a piece talking about disc rot, a very destructive affliction that could make your discs unreadable and it's actually more common than you’d think.

Disc rot is caused by age more than anything, but the process can be sped up through overexposure to UV light, oxidation and contaminants.

Some helpful tips were included on how to keep your games safe and last longer, most of which just involves storing them properly in a cool, dry area and obviously keeping them in their respective cases.

It’s a very real threat to physical media though, and it actually makes digital collections look more appealing in the long run despite having its own difficulties.

With many classic PlayStation and Xbox games currently unavailable on modern consoles, even through things like PlayStation Plus, the best way to preserve all the games is through things like emulation and publishers bringing them back through remasters or remakes.

Of course this can’t be done for every game, so it’s vital that you keep the ones you’ve got safe and protected.

Definitely check out the full piece by Eric Switzer though, it’s good stuff and as a collector of retro games who owns more discs than he knows what to do with it resonated with me deeply.