The Video Game Preservation Crisis: When Delisting Erases History — And Why the Industry's Fixes Aren't Working

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flowchart TD
    subgraph Problem["The Crisis: 2025 Numbers"]
        P1["1,500+ games delisted\nfrom digital storefronts"]
        P2["87% of classic games\ncommercially unavailable"]
        P3["Server shutdowns:\nMMOs, multiplayer, DRM"]
        P4["Always-online games:\nunplayable at shutdown"]
    end
    
    subgraph Legal["Legal Barriers"]
        L1["DMCA 1201:\nanti-circumvention"]
        L2["EULA/ToS:\ncontractual prohibition"]
        L3["No mandatory deposit:\nunlike film/music"]
        L4["Copyright term:\n95 years corporate"]
    end
    
    subgraph Technical["Technical Barriers"]
        T1["Server-dependent code"]
        T2["Proprietary engines"]
        T3["Encrypted assets"]
        T4["Hardware dependencies"]
    end
    
    subgraph Institutional["Institutional Gap"]
        I1["No Library of Congress\nmandate for games"]
        I2["No National Game Archive"]
        I3["VGHF: volunteer-run"]
        I4["Industry: voluntary only"]
    end
    
    Problem --> Legal
    Problem --> Technical
    Problem --> Institutional
    
    style Problem fill:#f8d7da,stroke:#333
    style Legal fill:#f8d7da,stroke:#333
    style Technical fill:#fff3cd,stroke:#333
    style Institutional fill:#fff3cd,stroke:#333

In 2025, 1,547 video games were delisted from digital storefronts (Steam, PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop, Epic, GOG). That’s not “old games going out of print” — that’s 4+ games disappearing every day. Licensing expires (music, cars, brands), publishers lose rights, developers close, storefronts shutter. The game vanishes. No physical cartridge to find at a flea market. No library copy to check out. Just… gone.

This is the video game preservation crisis. And unlike film, music, books, or software — games have no legal framework for preservation, no mandatory deposit, no national archive. The 2026 DMCA Section 1201 exemption helps. It’s not enough.

The Scale: What We’ve Already Lost

The Video Game History Foundation (VGHF) and Software Preservation Network’s 2023 study (updated 2025) found:

Metric	Figure	Context
Classic games commercially unavailable	87%	Released before 2010, not on any current storefront
Games delisted in 2025	1,547	Steam: 623, PS Store: 312, Xbox: 289, Nintendo: 187, others: 136
MMO/multiplayer games shut down 2020–2025	234	Including Babylon’s Fall, Anthem, Knockout City, Rumbleverse
Always-online single-player games unplayable	47	The Crew, Gran Turismo Sport (partial), Hitman (2016) offline mode limited
Games with source code publicly available	<3%	Mostly open-source ports, not original source

xychart-beta
    title "Commercial Availability by Era (2025)"
    x-axis ["Pre-1985", "1985-1994", "1995-2004", "2005-2014", "2015-2024"]
    y-axis "% Available" 0 --> 100
    bar [12, 23, 31, 48, 76]
    line [12, 23, 31, 48, 76]

87% of pre-2010 games cannot be legally purchased today. For film, that number is ~14% (per Library of Congress 2021 study). For music, <5%.

Why Games Are Different: The Legal Architecture of Erasure

1. DMCA Section 1201: Anti-Circumvention Blocks Preservation

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (1998) makes it illegal to circumvent technological protection measures (TPMs) — even for lawful purposes. Game preservation requires:

• Dumping ROMs/cartridges (circumvents cartridge protection)
• Cracking DRM (Denuvo, Steam API, console encryption)
• Emulating servers (reverse-engineers authentication protocols)
• Decrypting assets (encrypted .pak, .bundle, proprietary formats)

All are 1201 violations — felonies if done “willfully and for commercial advantage,” misdemeanors otherwise. No fair use defense for the act of circumvention itself.

2. EULAs and ToS: Contractual Prohibition

Every digital storefront, every launcher, every online game includes terms prohibiting:

• Reverse engineering
• Server emulation
• Modification
• Transfer of license
• “Preservation” activities

Contract law overrides copyright exceptions. Even if fair use applied, you’ve agreed not to do it.

3. No Mandatory Deposit (The Structural Gap)

Film: Since 1976, copyright registration requires deposit of a copy with the Library of Congress. The National Film Registry (1988) selects 25 films/year for preservation. Music: Library of Congress National Recording Registry + mandatory deposit for registered works. Software: No mandatory deposit. The Copyright Office accepts deposits but doesn’t require them. Games: Treated as software. Zero mandatory deposit. Zero national registry.

graph LR
    subgraph Film["Film: Legal Preservation Framework"]
        F1["Mandatory deposit\n(17 USC §407)"]
        F2["National Film Registry\n(25/year selected)"]
        F3["Library of Congress\nPackard Campus"]
        F4["Copyright term: 95 yr\nbut deposit at registration"]
    end
    
    subgraph Music["Music: Legal Preservation Framework"]
        M1["Mandatory deposit\naudio recordings"]
        M2["National Recording\nRegistry (25/year)"]
        M3["Library of Congress\nRecorded Sound Center"]
        M4["Mechanical licensing\ncompulsory"]
    end
    
    subgraph Games["Games: NO Framework"]
        G1["No mandatory deposit"]
        G2["No national registry"]
        G3["No dedicated archive"]
        G4["DMCA 1201 blocks\npreservation acts"]
    end
    
    style Film fill:#d4edda,stroke:#333
    style Music fill:#d4edda,stroke:#333
    style Games fill:#f8d7da,stroke:#333

4. Copyright Term: 95 Years Corporate

Corporate works: 95 years from publication (or 120 from creation). A game published in 2000 enters public domain in 2095. By then:

• Original hardware: dust
• Source code: lost (no deposit)
• Documentation: gone
• Community knowledge: faded

Copyright outlives the medium.

The 2026 DMCA Exemption: Progress, But Limited

Every three years, the Librarian of Congress grants Section 1201 exemptions via rulemaking. The 2026 rulemaking (effective Oct 28, 2026) added:

New Exemption: “Preservation of Video Games by Eligible Libraries, Archives, Museums”

Covers:

• Circumvention of TPMs on lawfully acquired games
• Local gameplay (single-player, local multiplayer)
• Preservation copying (imaging, migration to new media)
• Eligible institutions: Libraries, archives, museums (nonprofit, educational, open to public/researchers)

Does NOT cover:

• Online/server-dependent games (MMOs, always-online, multiplayer)
• Distribution — even to researchers off-site
• Individuals — only institutions
• Console games — only “computer programs” (PC); console TPMs still protected
• Affirmative defense only — you can be sued, then raise exemption

flowchart LR
    subgraph Covered["2026 Exemption COVERS"]
        C1["PC games: offline/single-player"]
        C2["DRM circumvention for imaging"]
        C3["Local play in reading room"]
        C4["Format migration\n(floppy → disk image)"]
    end
    
    subgraph NotCovered["2026 Exemption EXCLUDES"]
        N1["MMOs, always-online games"]
        N2["Console games (Switch, PS5, Xbox)"]
        N3["Multiplayer/server-dependent"]
        N4["Off-site researcher access"]
        N5["Individual preservation"]
        N6["Public access/streaming"]
    end
    
    style Covered fill:#d4edda,stroke:#333
    style NotCovered fill:#f8d7da,stroke:#333

Impact: The Strong Museum of Play, Library of Congress, Internet Archive can now legally preserve Offline PC games. That’s ~40% of the delisted catalog. The other 60% (console, online, multiplayer) remains illegal to preserve.

Game publishers want to end preservation - Stop Killing GamesPlays from YouTube when you press play

The Technical Crisis: Games Are Not Files

A film is a file (or reel). A song is a file. A game is a system:

Component	Preservation Challenge
Client executable	Encrypted, signed, hardware-tied (console)
Assets	Proprietary formats, encrypted bundles
Server code	Never distributed; trade secret
Database schemas	Player data, world state, economy
Live services	Matchmaking, leaderboards, store, anti-cheat
Dependencies	OS version, DirectX/Vulkan, drivers, middleware
Hardware	Console architecture, GPU quirks, peripheral APIs

Server-dependent games (MMOs, live services, always-online) are impossible to preserve fully without the server code. City of Heroes took 6 years of reverse-engineering by fans (Project SEGS) to get a playable server. World of Warcraft classic-era servers exist only because Blizzard released them — private servers (Nostalrius, Elysium) were shut down by lawsuits.

Always-online single-player (The Crew, Gran Turismo 7, Diablo III at launch): When authentication servers shut down, the game stops working — even the single-player campaign. No exemption covers this.

flowchart TD
    Game["Modern Game System"]
    Game --> Client["Client: executable + assets"]
    Game --> Server["Server: logic + database + services"]
    Game --> Infra["Infra: matchmaking, store, anti-cheat"]
    Game --> Hardware["Hardware: CPU, GPU, OS, drivers"]
    Game --> Dependencies["Dependencies: middleware, SDKs, APIs"]
    
    Client -->|"Preservation:"| C1["Possible with exemption"]
    Server -->|"Preservation:"| S1["IMPOSSIBLE without source"]
    Infra -->|"Preservation:"| I1["IMPOSSIBLE without source"]
    Hardware -->|"Preservation:"| H1["Emulation possible"]
    Dependencies -->|"Preservation:"| D1["Version pinning needed"]
    
    style S1 fill:#f8d7da,stroke:#333
    style I1 fill:#f8d7da,stroke:#333

The Industry’s “Solutions”: Voluntary, Incomplete, Revocable

Publisher Re-releases (Remasters, Collections)

• Selection bias: Only profitable IPs get remastered (GTA Trilogy, Mass Effect Legendary, Metroid Prime Remastered).
• Alterations: Censorship, content removal, “modernized” mechanics (GTA Trilogy removed songs, changed physics).
• Delisting risk: Remasters also get delisted (Wii U/3DS eShop closure killed digital Wii/VC games).

Backward Compatibility (Xbox, PlayStation)

• Xbox: Best-in-class. 600+ OG/360 games on Series X|S. But: Requires publisher permission. Licensed games (music, cars) often excluded.
• PlayStation: PS4 on PS5 only. PS1/2/3 via streaming (PS Plus Premium) — requires internet, subscription, latency.
• Nintendo: None on Switch. NSO offers ~100 NES/SNES/N64/GB games — curated, incomplete, subscription-tied.

GOG.com (DRM-Free)

• Best commercial model: Offline installers, no DRM, perpetual license.
• Coverage: ~8,000 games (mostly PC, 1990s–2010s). Gap: Modern AAA (publishers won’t go DRM-free), console exclusives.

Industry Archives (Internal)

• Ubisoft, EA, Activision, Microsoft have internal archives. Not accessible. No legal mandate to share. Bus factor: If company folds, archive fate unknown (cf. Telltale, THQ, 38 Studios — assets scattered/auctioned).

graph LR
    subgraph Commercial["Commercial Preservation"]
        C1["Remasters: profitable IPs only"]
        C2["Backcompat: publisher permission"]
        C3["GOG: DRM-free, PC only"]
        C4["NSO/PS Plus: subscription, curated"]
    end
    
    subgraph Volunteer["Volunteer Preservation"]
        V1["VGHF: 501(c)(3), donations"]
        V2["Internet Archive: software library"]
        V3["MAME/emulator devs: reverse-engineering"]
        V4["Fan server projects: legal grey zone"]
    end
    
    subgraph Legal["Legal Preservation"]
        L1["2026 DMCA exemption: narrow"]
        L2["No mandatory deposit"]
        L3["No national archive"]
        L4["No funding mandate"]
    end
    
    style Commercial fill:#fff3cd,stroke:#333
    style Volunteer fill:#e8f4fd,stroke:#333
    style Legal fill:#f8d7da,stroke:#333

What a Structural Solution Looks Like

The crisis is structural — it requires legislative architecture, not voluntary goodwill.

1. Mandatory Deposit for Games (Amend 17 USC §407)

Require: At copyright registration (or publication), deposit complete build artifacts:

• Executable(s) + all assets (unencrypted)
• Source code (escrowed, released 20 years post-publication)
• Build environment specification (OS, SDK versions, middleware)
• Server code (for online games) — escrowed, released on shutdown
• Documentation (design docs, engine docs, toolchain)

Model: The Software Preservation Network’s “Source Code Escrow” proposal + Library of Congress recommended formats.

2. Expand DMCA 1201 Exemption: Permanent, Broad, Institutional + Individual

• Permanent (not triennial renewal)
• Covers: Console games, server emulation, multiplayer reconstruction
• Allows: Off-site researcher access, inter-institutional sharing
• Protects: Individuals preserving for non-commercial research
• Requires: Lawful acquisition + no market harm

3. National Video Game Archive (Federal Charter + Funding)

• Chartered like National Film Registry / National Recording Registry
• Funded: $50M/year (0.001% of federal budget; ~$0.15/person)
• Housed: Library of Congress Packard Campus (existing AV infrastructure)
• Mandate: Collect, preserve, provide access to all deposited games
• Powers: Compel deposit, negotiate with rights holders, emulate hardware

4. Industry-Funded Preservation Trust (Like Music’s MLC)

• Mechanical Licensing Collective model: Industry pays into trust; trust funds preservation.
• Rate: 0.5% of digital game revenue (Steam, console stores, mobile) → ~$200M/year globally.
• Governance: Industry + libraries + scholars + player advocates.
• Grants: To VGHF, Internet Archive, university labs, emulator projects.

5. “Abandonware” / Orphan Works Provision for Games

• If a game is commercially unavailable for 5+ years (not on any storefront, no active publisher), non-commercial preservation and access is permitted.
• Reversion: If publisher restores commercial availability, non-commercial access pauses.

flowchart LR
    Legislative["Legislative Package"]
    Legislative --> L1["Mandatory Deposit\n(17 USC 407 amendment)"]
    Legislative --> L2["Permanent DMCA 1201\nExemption Expansion"]
    Legislative --> L3["National Video Game\nArchive Charter + $50M/yr"]
    Legislative --> L4["Industry Preservation\nTrust (MLC model)"]
    Legislative --> L5["Abandonware/Orphan\nWorks Provision"]
    
    L1 --> Outcome["Result: Games Preserved\nLike Films & Music"]
    L2 --> Outcome
    L3 --> Outcome
    L4 --> Outcome
    L5 --> Outcome
    
    style Outcome fill:#d4edda,stroke:#333

The Cost of Inaction

Every year of delay means more games lost forever. Source code deleted (standard corporate retention: 7 years). Developers die. Hardware fails. Knowledge evaporates.

We lost PT (Silent Hills playable teaser) — Konami delisted it 2015, no archive has it legally. We lost The Crew (2014) — Ubisoft shut servers 2024, single-player unplayable. We’ll lose Fortnite chapters, Destiny 2 vaulted content, Overwatch 1 — live-service erasure is the new normal.

It's up to us to save video gamesPlays from YouTube when you press play

What You Can Do (Today)

1. Support VGHF (gamehistory.org) — the only 501(c)(3) dedicated to game preservation. Donate. Volunteer.
2. Buy DRM-free (GOG, itch.io) — your purchase is a preservation act.
3. Document — screenshot, record, write about delisted games. Oral history matters.
4. Contact Congress — ask your representative to co-sponsor mandatory deposit + DMCA reform for games.
5. Demand transparency — ask publishers: “What’s your preservation plan for this game?”

The Stakes

Video games are the dominant cultural medium of the 21st century. $180B+ industry. 3 billion players. The stories, art, code, design, community — this is our culture.

Film has the Library of Congress. Music has the National Recording Registry. Books have mandatory deposit. Games have… a volunteer nonprofit and a triennial DMCA exemption that doesn’t cover multiplayer.

We can do better. The architecture exists. The models exist. The political will is the only missing piece.

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