International Video Games Preservation

Responses from a diverse range of groups showed video games are being collected and preserved for a variety of reasons – as artworks, objects of study, published works, technology, objects of play, intellectual property, contemporary media and cultural heritage.

While most organisations offered some form of access to their collections, challenges around legal and technical issues limited the extent of access provided.

Most public and cultural organisations performing video game preservation activities did this work without dedicated staffing resources.

Financial and resourcing issues, staff time constraints and institutional support/recognition posed the most significant challenges for organisations. Preservation activities were often mentioned as being critically under-resourced for the amount of attention they require.

In nearly all cases, public and cultural institutions performed video game preservation activities as a small part of their overall remit.

Organisations were almost twice as likely to hold software on physical carriers than contemporary digitally distributed video games, placing these contemporary titles at risk.

Organisations were more likely to face barriers of expertise in the early stages of developing their video game preservation programs, while legal and rights issues were raised more by organisations in the later stages.

Over half of the organisations surveyed had contact or formal agreements with the video game industry or developers, facilitating partnerships for preservation efforts.

Despite limited active partnerships between organisations and groups, participation in networks like the Software Preservation Network and the Digital Preservation Coalition was notable.

Respondents recognised the need for more structured collaboration and information sharing within the field, suggesting initiatives such as international associations and standardised cataloguing systems.