It’s easy to get caught up in the ‘game drive’ branding, but make no mistake, the WD_Black P10 Game Drive is much more than that. The past year has defined the different paths that WD (formerly Western Digital) and SanDisk will now take, with the former clearly focusing on the basics: value, lots of storage, and a focused approach. While the product support document for the WD_Black P10 Game Drive emphasizes compatibility with Windows PCs, Sony PlayStation, and Microsoft Xbox consoles, it also worked seamlessly on an Apple Mac Studio in our tests.
Considering storage prices are as they are in 2026, especially with slower but more reliable hard drives (HDDs) in demand now, you may have to drop a lot more than twelve months ago. Right now this 6TB drive will cost ₹31,818 and honestly, that’s a huge amount of storage space for that money. The future-proofing aspect is well marked, whether you’re looking at it as a backup drive or cloud drive option for your PC – although you’ll have to pay a premium for game console support. For reference, WD’s own 6TB My Passport Ultra Portable drive (without any console compatibility) currently has a market value of approx. ₹20,000.
For context, WD said last month that it had already fully allocated its enterprise HDD capacity for the year, based on AI and data center investments. Both demographics prefer HDDs, and hence demand has increased. That is why you now have to pay a premium on the purchase price.
With this, WD_Black is targeting a demographic that has run out of space on its console drive, and now needs to transfer some games to an external source. The console won’t play games from this drive, but the idea is to move some less-played games from the console’s internal storage to it, or to free up space there to download new titles or install updates – game sizes are huge these days.
The WD_Black P10 Game Drive keeps things simple with a 4800rpm 2.5-inch hard drive in a distinctive industrial-designed casing. It has a single activity LED light, which illuminates solid when the drive is connected to a device and turned on, and blinks when a data transfer is in progress. For some strange reason, WD insists on using a Micro-B connector on one end (this plugs into the drive) and a USB-A connector on the other (this connects to the console or PC). This proprietary cable type can be difficult to replace if you damage it or misplace it. Secondly, WD should have bundled a cable with a USB-C connector on at least one end for the new PCs and Macs.
Since this is an HDD, expecting SSD or solid-state storage-esque read and write speeds would be a false start. In terms of Blackmagic Disk Speed Test scores, the WD_Black P10 Game Drive peaked at a write speed of 583MB/s for a short period, but averaged around 123MB/s. WD claims a peak speed of 130MB/s and it’s good to see that the brand is positioning that as a realistic claim for potential buyers. At this point, it’s important to note that any console will likely run slightly slower than benchmark tests on a Mac (or even a Windows PC). Be prepared for those variables, and they are not drive dependent.
It’s important to point out that even though both competing consoles boast 1TB of internal storage, modern games and software updates fill it up quickly. Buy the WD_Black P10 Game Drive because it works well as an attached storage extension without any hassles. And since this is WD, reliability will never really be a question worth considering. Even after serious data transfer volumes, the WD_Black P10 Game Drive remains cool to the touch, which I believe is a positive for longevity. It’s not the fastest external storage money can buy, but you’re paying for a lot of storage space (6TB) and a good old HDD that should withstand the test.