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Technical Guide • 5 min read
How Xbox PC Game Pass Save Files Work (WGS vs Non-WGS)
Understand Microsoft Windows Gaming Services (wgs) container architecture, GUID folders, and why you cannot simply copy raw files to Steam.
1
The UWP Container Architecture
Many Xbox Game Pass titles store saves in encrypted or hashed container blobs inside:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\[PackageFamilyName]\SystemAppData\wgs\ rather than standard user folders.
2
Understanding GUID Filenames
Inside the wgs folder, files do not have recognizable names like
savegame.dat. Instead, you will see long hexadecimal GUIDs (e.g., 000900000A...) accompanied by a containers.index manifest.
3
Non-WGS Game Pass Titles
Not all Game Pass games use wgs! Unreal Engine titles often place standard save files in
%LOCALAPPDATA%\[GameName]\Saved\SaveGames alongside their Steam counterparts, making cross-migration trivial.
4
Converting WGS Saves to Steam
To convert a WGS container to a Steam or GOG save, use verified open-source extraction utilities (such as XGP-Save-Extractor). Always back up your original wgs directory first.
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