The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), alongside The Strong National Museum of Play (US), and the BFI National Archive (UK) have teamed up to call for better global game preservation, following the results of a worldwide survey that formally discovered inadequate measures for preserving this history. In late 2023, the NFSA commissioned a study of video game preservation practices, with the help of 54 global organisations – from universities and academic libraries to cultural institutions, video game companies, and beyond. The goal was to discover how video games are being preserved, and what current barriers exist .
Per results of the survey, a lack of established resources is currently one of the biggest barriers, alongside significant barriers to accessing game material, as well as a lack of international collaboration and recognition of video game preservation is so important. Video games are a relatively new form of media when compared to film, television, or radio, and for those unfamiliar, their cultural and historic value appears relatively misunderstood. Further to this analysis, the NFSA survey recognised a range of other challenges facing cultural institutions in the preservation of video games.
Key amongst these is that most public and cultural institutions lack proper resources for preservation as a whole, and therefore most video game preservation activities were carried out without dedicated staffing. While the majority of organisations performing game preservation activities, they were referred to as “critically under-resourced” in the survey. Not only do some organisations lack dedicated staffing, they also lack financial resources, and have little time for organisation.
That’s not to mention the existing legal and technical hurdles in preserving video games, and that most organisations were likely to preserve software in physical formats, rendering even preserved titles “at risk.” “Video games are the pre-eminent cultural artefact of our time, and collecting and preserving them is a still-developing field that is growing beyond the boundaries of today’s institutions,” Patrick McIntry, CEO of the NSFA said in a press release. “More than 90% of films made before 1929 are now lost to us.
This landmark survey clearly points to the need for collecting institutions to develop a joined-up international approach to prevent a similar fate for video games.” Together with The Strong and the BFI, the NFSA is calling for more structured collaboration between organisations dedicated to preservation, to create a framework within which games can be preserved legally and safely. It has also called for greater understanding of video games as worthy cultural artefacts, as tied with modern history.
They reflect technology changes, value changes, and historic moments as well as any other entertainment media, and this work deserves to be preserved in a more formal capacity. “For the last half-century, video games have become not only a massive industry but an art form connecting people around the world through play,” Jon-Paul C. Dyson, Director of The International Center for the History of Electronic Games at The Strong said.
“It is vital that institutions work together globally to preserve the history of this revolutionary medium before it is lost.” You can read more about the work of the NFSA, The Strong, and the BFI . It’s an essential text on the art of video game preservation, and why it should grow in the years to come.
.
