So it seems that playing games off external drives is becoming quite possible. Not the cutting-edgiest games, you keep those on internal, but most anything else.
Best external SSD for gaming on PC and next-gen consoles
https://www.pcgamer.com/best-external-s ... e-storage/
The best external SSD is almost a must for gamers of all appetites, especially in a world of ballooning game install sizes. A large external SSDs should come as a tempting possibility for anyone rocking one of the best gaming laptops, but it's also increasingly important for our console cousins too. PlayStation 5, or Xbox Series X/S support portable USB 3.2 drives for extended storage, and realistically you want an SSD based one for that. And there's also something to be said for simply a handy drive you can use between PCs and other devices to keep your data flowing easily and securely.
The best USB Type-C drives deliver performance well beyond internal PC SSDs from just a few generations ago. Some external SSDs now crank out as much as 2GB/s of raw bandwidth. Admittedly, that’s a long way off the latest PCIe 4.0 M.2 drives for PCs, let alone the crazy-quick integrated storage in the new Microsoft Xbox Series X and Sony PlayStation 5.
What’s more, the Xbox Series X/S-specific expansion SSD is not only expensive; it’s also proprietary, so it can’t be used with other devices. By contrast, USB Type-C is the new universal standard. As for Sony’s Playstation 5, its M.2 SSD expansion slot has yet to be enabled, so USB-C is the way to go.