The study puts a quantitative baseline on the preservation problem previously described in coverage of the legal and technical barriers to game research. It distinguishes commercial availability from the historical record: most older US releases cannot simply be obtained through normal retail channels.
That evidence matters because preservation advocates’ access constraints are not only technical. The later denial of remote-lending permission for libraries and archives shows how limited commercial availability can coexist with narrow institutional options for providing research access.
First-order effects
Researchers, libraries, and preservation groups have a clearer measure of the gap between the historic game catalog and titles still commercially obtainable, especially for the oldest releases.
The findings strengthen the Video Game History Foundation and Software Preservation Network’s case that preservation cannot depend on publishers keeping legacy games in print.
Second-order effects
Publishers and platform holders face greater pressure to explain how delisted or out-of-print titles can remain accessible for study when commercial distribution ends.
The scarcity of legitimate copies raises the importance of archives, collectors, and rights-clearance processes, while making preservation initiatives more dependent on cooperation from rights holders.
Third-order effects
If commercial availability remains the de facto route to historical access, video-game history will be shaped by rights holders’ catalog priorities rather than by the needs of researchers and cultural institutions.
The pattern points toward a continuing policy conflict over whether preservation requires exceptions or licensing mechanisms beyond conventional retail distribution; the scope of any change remains uncertain.
The trend: Video-game preservation is becoming a contest over who controls access to software after its commercial life ends.
Game preservation has been so neglected that of course people consider piracy to be the only option — it basically is! But what if it didn't HAVE to be? No, I'm not asking game companies to simply release more games. I'm asking the industry to *allow libraries to do their jobs!* …
The point here isn't to shame the game industry! Their job is to sell you new games and consoles, not keep every game in print forever. But that's why we need to make it easier for libraries and archives to close the preservation gap
Games preservation is at an endangered level and needs urgent attention to preserve its history internationally! It's so great to see this study done by @itstheshadsy @GameHistoryOrg - super inspiring and makes me hopeful ❤️ https://twitter.com/...
The commercial video game market isn't going to preserve gaming history, and we've proved it with hard numbers. Libraries and archives need more allowances in copyright to do the work that the industry can't, or won't. https://twitter.com/...
Why Xbox having easy downloadable access to four generations of my games (a good chunk with 4K and/or FPS boost ‘Xbox X’ enhancements) is a big plus for me. // “87% of video games made prior to 2010 are unavailable for purchase.” https://gamehistory.org/...
Video games are an outlier. While you can rent a digital book or a digital movie, or research text from the comfort of your own home, there's no legal path to do that for games. And to be honest, that's ridiculous.
If you want to dig deeper into our study, I wrote this explainer about why we studied game availability, how we came to 87 percent, and what this means for the future of game preservation https://gamehistory.org/...
[Game History Foundation] 87% of classic games (released before 2010) are out of print. So only around 13% are still available today. Study: https://zenodo.org/... Summary: https://gamehistory.org/... [image]
In partnership with @GameHistoryOrg, we are excited to share the first ever survey on the commercial availability of classic video games, by Phil Salvador (@itstheshadsy). Spoiler alert: the results are bleak. Read the full report here: https://www.softwarepreservationnetwork .or…