Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your BGW file.
You’ll see a preview, if available.
Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.
Convert BGW to another file type
To convert BGW music files to another format, you need vgmstream or other Audio software.
Convert a file to BGW
To convert other file formats to the "Game Audio Container" file type, you need software like vgmstream or a similar tool.
About BGW files
A .bgw file is a specialized audio container format used primarily as streamed background music in Square Enix video games, most notably Final Fantasy XI. These files securely wrap audio data inside a proprietary BGMStream structure designed to dictate exactly where a track should seamlessly loop within the game engine. To manage or play these files natively, users typically rely on community-developed software like the vgmstream plugin for audio players such as Foobar2000. Users frequently need to convert .bgw files because they are completely unrecognized by standard media applications like VLC Media Player, iTunes, or modern web browsers. The format was intentionally designed to be proprietary, meaning that casual listening or editing is impossible out of the box. Additionally, the files often balloon in size due to raw or lightly compressed internal data streams. We highly recommend converting .bgw files into widely supported target formats like .MP3, .WAV, or .OGG for everyday listening or editing. While converting makes the file playable on any device, be aware that the proprietary metadata responsible for infinitely looping the background music will be lost, resulting in a linear audio track that eventually ends. Because the BGMStream headers and custom looping points are strictly proprietary, this file format is difficult to open or convert reliably. Often only the original software can properly read or export the data flawlessly. However, convert.guru can still identify the file format, inspect the file, and show text or internal content. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible directly in your browser.
Convert.Guru analyzes your BGW file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
If you want to convert BGW file to MP3, WAV, AAC, FLAC, OGG, WMA, M4A, AIFF, OPUS, ALAC, APE or WV, you can use vgmstream or similar software from the "Game Background Music" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MIDI, AAC, TTA, AU, WV, DTS, MID, FLAC, RA, MP3, PCM or WAV files to BGW, try vgmstream or another comparable tool in the "Game Background Music" category.
The BGW Converter Story
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our BGW converter.