While the video game industry seems to be inexorably shifting toward an all-digital future, a project called Kazeta is heading in the opposite direction.
A few days ago, Sony caused a stir by announcing the end of physical media for PlayStation games as of January 1, 2028. That date is still far off—and yet very close—for gamers who have always been able to count on the existence of a physical market alongside the digital one. On PC, the situation is a bit different: physical games have been in free fall for nearly twenty years, and today there are very few publishers that still release physical versions of their titles. Yet it is on PC that Kazeta has decided to focus its efforts. What’s the idea behind this very unique operating system? To offer PC gamers an experience similar to that of consoles, with actual physical “cartridges” to launch their games.
Creating the “cartridges” is fairly simple. © Kazeta
The concept may seem surprising, but it’s based on a simple idea: transforming DRM-free PC games into physical media that can be used like cartridges. Kazeta doesn’t directly produce new games, but offers a Linux-based operating system that allows users to store titles on SD cards or other external media, then launch them just as one would insert a cartridge into a console. This approach aims to recapture an era when gaming simply meant plugging in a storage device and starting a game, without the need for a mandatory account or launching an application. Behind this initiative is Alesh Slovak, also known for his work on ChimeraOS, a Linux distribution designed for video games. Kazeta draws heavily on technologies from the Linux gaming ecosystem and is primarily aimed at users who want to regain control of their game libraries. The system exclusively targets DRM-free games, particularly those from platforms like GOG or itch.io, to allow players to create their own digital “cartridges.”
The interface is minimalist, and, most importantly, the game loads immediately when the machine is turned on. © Kazeta
The process requires a PC with minimal specifications (64-bit x86 CPU, 4 GB of RAM, AMD RX 400 or NVIDIA GTX 1600 GPU) and an SD card reader. Next, you’ll need to install the Kazeta OS—which doesn’t (yet?) support dual-boot—and then you can create your own cartridges on an SD card. The procedure is detailed on the Kazeta website, but keep in mind that each SD card can hold only one game. While the idea may seem nostalgic, it also addresses a growing concern about the gradual disappearance of physical media. As the industry rolls out more and more digital platforms and traditional media lose ground, Kazeta offers an alternative vision where video games once again become physical objects that you can keep and handle. This approach is still limited to enthusiasts, but it illustrates a trend: even on PC, some gamers don’t want to completely turn their backs on physical media.
