“...I would love it if we came together to help preserve the history of what our industry is about so we don't lose access to some of the things that got us to where we are today and built this industry...”
Video games are far more than entertainment; they're a melting pot of art, technology, and culture. Just as we archive movies, TV shows, music, and books, archiving games is absolutely essential to preserving a wider societal snapshot for future generations to experience and for current generations to reflect on the nostalgia of their earlier years.
Each and every game represents a piece of our digital history, but, without proper archival and preservation, many of these games will become lost to time. This is going to be particularly prevalent when it comes to games with living worlds; persistent multiplayer games where the players and their interactions form a large part of the game experience.
“...without proper archival and preservation, many of these games will become lost to time...”
As technology advances, games age and become less profitable/loss-making, and even developers burn out, the risk of losing these games with living worlds increases. For multiplayer games, it is not just the game that disappears but the rich history, the memories, and the communities that are decimated, and often, only the self-organizing fragments are left standing.
We believe that preserving these games in their entirety is paramount, which means the ideal archival/preservation of such games includes everything from the code, art assets, content, and communities (or snapshots of) all the way through to auxiliary resources such as game guides, wikis, and player-made tools such as calculators and simulators.
There is an initiative in the EU called "Stop Destroying Videogames" that seeks to bring a legal framework to ensure that more traditional videogames that rely on developer servers/infrastructure to operate can't be shut down without leaving the game in a playable state. If it manages to meet all of the thresholds and eventually become legislation, it will be an amazing tool for furthering the preservation of downloaded games with multiplayer or other essential online content.
We, unfortunately, can't rely on legislation alone to preserve online games, so we need to be proactive about it where we can.
Browser-based multiplayer games (PBBGs) are an abundant yet underrepresented segment of games that are seldom the target of preservation. These games, often developed and maintained by individuals or small teams, may house anything from a handful of active players to tens of thousands with rich social ecosystems filled with collaboration, competition, and world-building.
Unlike downloadable games, many of these browser-based games are served to the players as individual webpages per interaction making the ability to take a snapshot of the game an impossibility. Even those that utilize JavaScript single page application type setups, much of the game content is streamed via APIs or aync calls returning HTML viewports.
Standard website archival tools such as wget --mirror or httrack can assist in preseving the external state of PBBGs, however, they are wholly ineffective for preserving the inner state of games. This means that when a browser-based game shuts down, its legacy often vanishes completely and this is especially so for those games that only ever held smaller communities.
These games often form unique communities that deserve to be preserved and enjoyed by all just as much as the "World of Warcraft"s of the world do.
We focus on archiving these types of games because they represent an important chapter in gaming history, however niche they may be.
Our goal is to ensure that these browser-based multiplayer games, especially those at risk of disappearing, continue to exist not just as static artifacts, but ideally continuing as playable, living worlds.
We aim to preserve the entire game experience; this includes everything from the art, gameplay, code, stories, history, and even the relationships/interactions between players and groups.
Where it makes sense, our ultimate goal is to get these games up and running again so we can allow both old and new players to experience the game as it was. Whether it be patching up an existing game so it can run on modern servers or rebuilding from the ground up and porting the data/content, we do what we can to keep the worlds alive.
We love to collaborate directly with developers and game owners, as we sincerely believe that this collaboration is the most effective way to preserve the game as a whole.
When we're unable to work with the developers/owners, we aim to archive everything player-generated both inside and out of the game including forum/message board posts, player guides, and the wikis that often contain valuable information that adds context to the game world.
We believe in the value of bringing these games back online where possible, but, even if relaunching them isn't a real possibility, capturing their essence and impact to our best abilitiy remains our mission.
In the process of enquiring about the rights to a game engine for archival/preservation; we found that the person we were initially speaking with (the original developer of the game engine) had previously sold the rights and they weren't able to assist in our efforts on that front.
However, during our discussion they indicated that they had since started developing a browser-based 2D RPG engine/builder and have long since ceased development on it. They indicated that they would be happy to contribute engine/builder to us and, as such, we have since acquired the rights.
We are glad to announce the addition of Project RPG Builder to the list of projects currently undergoing preservation / archival. This project is currently marked for some initial exploratory work to determine the extent of the preservation efforts required going forward.
Thank you very much for the generous contribution!
Below is an overview of the projects we currently have underway.
Please note that, at this stage, we are only referring to the games on the list by their preservation codenames until such time as we create individual entries for them with more detail.
Codename: Project Space
Project Space is a space-themed RPG with mountains of content where you control one or more alien characters. This game is one of the earlier examples of PBBGs to have come about with an initial release in 1997.
The original developer was able to provide us with the source code from the latest version of the game, which we then ported to a more commonly used language at the time.
At the time of obtaining the IP rights from the original developer, the only database they had available was from after a game-bug had been heavily exploited and had destroyed the game's economy and individual player stats.
In terms of the community, we were able to restore a superficial level of detail from the original database such as account IDs, names, email addresses (password resets were required for players to gain access to their original accounts).
Game items, areas, and other official game content was preserved and restored in its entirety.
Codename: Project Crime
Project Crime is an early example of a crime-themed game that launched in 2003. It had an eclectic set of features and content and a relatively small, but dedicated, community behind it.
Status:
Archived
IP Rights:
Obtained
Art Assets:
Obtained
Source Code:
Obtained
Database:
Last available backup obtained
Domains:
Original domain obtained
Live Server:
Unavailable
Documentation:
Official and player-contributed documentation preserved
Codename: Project Pirates
Project Pirates is a pirate-themed game that launched in 2007. Originally stemming from the source code of more generic crime-themed game, this game deviated significantly in terms of features, content, and the type of community it attracted.
Documentation:
Official and player-contributed documentation preserved
A live server has been setup and is considered mostly operational; much of the game's original content is available, however, many game-breaking bugs are still present.
The game also contains significant game balance issues that arose during a last ditch effort by the developers to increase revenue in order to increase the commercial viability of the game.
Codename: Project Mech
Project Mech is a mech-themed game that launched in 2010 as a result of the splintering of a community from a space-themed game that had fallen into disarray. It contains many themes and elements of the game the community had originally splintered from, but developed its own unique world, community, and other features until it was later shut down due to inactivity.
Status:
Archived
IP Rights:
Obtained
Art Assets:
Obtained
Source Code:
Obtained
Database:
Last available backup obtained
Domains:
Original domain obtained
Live Server:
Unavailable
Documentation:
Official and player-contributed documentation preserved
Codename: Project RPG Builder New
Project RPG Builder is a game framework that enables you to build browser-based 2D RPGs that started in 2017, ceased development in late 2019, then shuttered in 2022.
We have to prioritize what games to focus our archival/preservation efforts on first because we're not able to preserve every game that is being shut down.
Below is an incomplete list of considerations when determining if a game is a candidate for preservation; the more items it ticks off on the list, the higher the priority.
When a game has been given an explicit shut down or end-of-life date, the urgency of archival and preservation is increased. Prior to a game shutting down, the original developers are usually easier to contact, and work with for preservation efforts. Even if unable to reach the developers, while a game is still up, bespoke archival scripts can be made to preserve as much of the community content as possible.
While "bigger" doesn't necessarily mean "better", a candidate for preservation should have, or have had, at least a sizable playerbase (e.g. more than 1,000 player accounts)
We strongly consider "uniqueness" of a game when prioriting preservation candidates; if a game is the only one of its type (e.g. an intergalactic goods transportation simulator) we're more likely to work towards its preservation efforts over something generic or using an engine/script that has not been customized (e.g. a generic crime game with little in the way of true deviation from the base)
In some circumstances, a shut down can be a very bitter moment for the developer and they can be (as is their right) quite emotional about it and may prefer to "burn it all down" so to say. If the developer otherwise seems level-headed, we are more inclined to attempt a fuller preservation effort as the developer is more likely to work with us.
Please note that even if a game checks all of the items off of the above list, it may not be the highest priority for us at the time depending on the current queue.
A game may also check off none of the above list items and we may still accept it for archival, albeit likely without attempting to preserve a live server.
If you run/own a PBBG and are thinking of winding down operations (or have already done so for your game), we encourage you to read on and reach out to us.
We completely understand that managing a game's end-of-life can be challenging and stressful, but before letting it fade away, we urge you to consider the possibility of passing along the game's IP to us for preservation.
Even if the game can't be kept alive in its entirety or much of the original game is lost to time, we can preserve any of the important parts that do remain: source code, assets, player data, and community history. We'll work with you to ensure that the game's legacy continues as best we can.
Working directly with developers and owners is by far the best way to archive a game, and, as such, it is our preferred option when prioritizing our archival efforts.
If, after reading this, you are open to letting us help preserve your game, please contact us at:
While game developers/owners are best when it comes to preserving the core of the game (ie. art, code, database, etc), players are absolutely invaluable when it comes to preserving the experience of the game and for notifying us of candidates for archival/preservation.
If you play a game that is shutting down or has already closed, please let us know. We specialize in locating the developers/owners of shutdown games and facilitating the release of their IP for preservation/continuity.
If you are, or were, part of a game's community, you can contribute to its preservation by documenting anything from notable player interactions, key events, guilds/groups, and major moments in the game's timeline. These all form part of what makes a game special and aren't something that a developer/owner can meaningfully contribute like players can.
Many games have unofficial/player-contributed documentation, player-created wikis, and/or detailed guides that are crucial to preserving how the game was actually played versus how the developer expected it to be played. If you have any of these on hand, we'd love to see them.
If there's enough interest from a game's former community, it makes the process of obtaining the original game IP just that much easier. If you belong to a specific community with a strong interest in bringing back a game from your past, let us know and we may be able to help get it done.
Otherwise, please feel free to submit any other resources you have: screenshots, game files, videos, or even private documentation can all help us preserve a game.
If you have any of the information/resources discussed above, please contact us at: