At one point or another, we all had at least a surface-level experience of playing a video game before 2024. Whether it be from the days of the Atari 7600 or the PlayStation 2, we all have a sense of nostalgia. However, something alarming has surfaced as the old games you played are beginning to disappear.

The Video Game History Foundation Report (VGHF)

According to a dire report from Video Game History Foundation (VGHF), 87% of video games have been lost to time as of July 10, 2023. The preservation of video games has been a primary concern for enthusiasts and scholars alike, thanks to copyright laws Like DMCA, which played a significant role in this crisis. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) restricts product production and digital release with DRM protection. Libraries are a different case; they could store the games digitally, but you could only play them within the property. As a result, the only way to truly save these games is to keep the original copies and maintain them.

To understand the gravity of the situation, VGHF’s Kelsey Lewin provides an example: “Imagine if the only way to watch Titanic was to find a used VHS tape and maintain your vintage equipment so that you could still watch it. And what if no library could do any better — they could keep and digitize that VHS of Titanic, but you’d have to go there to watch it.” That’s how complicated copyright laws surrounding video games are. It doesn’t help that several games aren’t preserved by their respective companies, such as Nintendo. They may have made some of their old games available on their online service. Nonetheless, Nintendo is missing multiple titles across its console history.

The Hardships of Preservation

In such cases, emulation is a great way to prevent their legacy from disappearing. However, emulating games is in a gray area of legality as it often involves privacy. Fortunately, the U.S. Copyright Office announced its Ninth Triennial Rulemaking surrounding DMCA from April 15 to 19, 2024. VGHF will provide the study they conducted in hopes of showing that an exception will be made for games. Hoping that it’ll be enough evidence to allow libraries to host the games they have on their software.

Video game preservation isn’t being taken as seriously as other forms of entertainment. Games are only playable with specific controllers and consoles that will one day cease functioning. While some old titles like Pong may seem unimpressive today, they were groundbreaking in the limited forms of technology. From licensed children’s games to gritty first-person shooters, all video games have contributed to the entertainment history and should be maintained and cared for until the end.

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Works Cited

Copyright.gov. “Ninth Triennial Section 1201 Proceeding, 2024 Cycle | U.S.” https://www.copyright.gov/1201/2024/. Accessed February 7, 2024.

Lewin, Kelsey. “87% Missing: the Disappearance of Classic Video Games.” Video Game History Foundation, July 10, 2023, https://gamehistory.org/87percent/. Accessed February 6, 2024.

Winslow, Levi. “An Alarming 87 Percent Of Retro Games Are Being Lost To Time.” Kotaku, July 10, 2023, https://kotaku.com/classic-games-history-foundation-preservation-yakuza-1850623857. Accessed February 6, 2024.