The Entertainment Software Association, the video game industry’s lobbying group, has consistently fought against expanding video game preservation within libraries and archives (ex. Libraries and archives are allowed to digitally share other media types, such as books, film, and audio, and are not restricted to on-premises access. Libraries and archives can digitally preserve, but not digitally share video games, and can provide on-premises access only. Availability is low across every platform and time period tracked in the study. 87% of classic games are not in release, and are considered critically endangered. But outdated copyright laws are preventing institutions like ours from doing our jobs. Anyone should be able to easily explore, research and play classic video games, in the same way that they can read classic novels, listen to classic albums, and watch classic movies. This is where libraries and archives should come in. None of those options are desirable, which means that most video games are inaccessible to all but the most diehard and dedicated fans. 
(n = 1500, ☒.5%, 95% CI) Curious about our methodology? Check out our study explainer blog pos t!įor accessing nearly 9 in 10 classic games, there are few options: seek out and maintain vintage collectible games and hardware, travel across the country to visit a library, or… piracy.
In fact, no period of video game history defined in this study even cracked 20% representation.įigure 1: Availability rate of historical games, by period, between 19. Just 13% of video game history is being represented in the current marketplace.
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