Where Are Metal Gear Solid 4 Master Collection Saves Located?
MGS4 Master Collection keeps saves inside the game's install folder under mgs4_savedata_win, and Japanese saves do not cross over.
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Metal Gear Solid 4 finally came to PC on August 27, 2026 as part of the Master Collection lineup. Konami kept a console-era habit of storing save data next to the game itself: the folder mgs4_savedata_win lives inside the installation directory, not in Documents or AppData.
Inside it, each Steam account gets a numeric subfolder, so the literal path contains your user ID and cannot be quoted exactly. Steam Cloud covers the folder, which is why most people never need to touch it. Knowing the location matters for backups, and for the one real gotcha: Japanese and non-Japanese saves are not compatible.
Where Metal Gear Solid 4: Master Collection Version stores this, by platform
<SteamLibrary>\steamapps\common\METAL GEAR SOLID 4\mgs4_savedata_win\<SteamID>
Replace the angled placeholders. The install folder name is METAL GEAR SOLID 4 and the final folder is your numeric Steam account ID. Saves live inside the install directory, so moving the Steam library moves them. Japanese saves are not compatible with other languages.
~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/METAL GEAR SOLID 4/mgs4_savedata_win/<SteamID>
Because saves sit in the install folder, the Linux path is not inside a Proton prefix. Treat backslashes as forward slashes and expect the same numeric per-account subfolder.
Frequently asked questions
How do I back up MGS4 Master Collection saves?
Copy the mgs4_savedata_win folder from the game's install directory. Take the whole folder, numeric subfolders included, or at least your own. Steam Cloud covers it too, but a manual copy survives a verify-integrity run or a move between drives.
Why do my Japanese MGS4 saves not load in the English version?
Konami ships Japanese and non-Japanese save files as separate formats, and they are not interchangeable. If you switch versions, keep each set of saves with the release that made them or expect to start over.
Will verifying game files delete my MGS4 saves?
Not normally, but because saves live inside the install folder, a full reinstall or a library move is where losses happen. Back up mgs4_savedata_win before uninstalling or relocating the game files, then restore it afterward.
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