From BBC’s loss of over 90 Doctor Who episodes to Green Day’s stolen “Cigarettes and Valentines”, a number of entertainment industries have fallen victims to time, losing entire chapters of content. One company is looking to ensure the games industry doesn’t find itself in the same pitfall.
The Embracer Group is looking to preserve video game culture by collecting games and related material, and archiving it in one space through its newest project, the Games Archive.
The company has already collected over “50,000 games, consoles, and accessories,” according to PC Gamer. The Embracer Group is currently keeping these games in its vault in Sweden, and the team behind it consists of different professionals, including an archivist and a technical engineer, dedicated to the study and preservation of these games.
“At Embracer Games Archive, we believe that games carry a heritage worth celebrating and safeguarding for the future,” the company wrote on its website. “Our goal is clear – We want to archive and save as much of the video games industry as possible.”
While still in its early stages, with many products going uncatalogued, the Embracer Group is just starting its journey to create a database of gaming history.
As of now, the general public is not allowed to view or research the collection. The Embracer Group stated on its website under Archive Status and FAQ that it’s looking to make some information public, however. While it’s currently up in the air, it’s exciting to imagine that the video game industry over the last 40 to 50 years will be preserved and accessible in one place.
Players who want to help The Embracer Group in its mission can do so by offering their collections to the Games Archive. According to the archive’s website, players are encouraged to reach out if they have hardware or software they’d be willing to turn over to the service. While there is currently no list of games the Embracer Group is looking for, it plans to share games it’s on the lookout for on social media.
As games continue to evolve, it’s important for fans to remember how the industry got its start. While more games are released, it becomes imperative that someone keeps a record for future generations. Through the knowledge of gaming history, developers and researchers will have a better understanding of how the industry developed and how far it can go.
