GOG join hands with European Federation of Game Archives for game preservation

Online game distribution platform GOG and the European Federation of Game Archives, Museums, and Preservation Projects (EFGAMP) have teamed up to further expand their video game preservation efforts. GOG started its work last year and plans to preserve classic games and make them playable on modern devices long after losing support from original developers.

As of now, there are 102 games under GOG preservation, and the team's current aim is to expand even more. This is where EFGAMP comes in, the largest organisation in Europe. EFGAMP has been preserving games in its library for future generations and has been doing so for over a decade.

“As a European company, we feel a responsibility to lead in preserving gaming heritage. Joining EFGAMP reinforces this commitment. Our next step is to expand institutional collaboration with museums and governmental and non-governmental organisations worldwide,” said Maciej Gołębiewski, Managing Director at GOG.

2024 was a milestone for Video Game Preservation 💿

With a plethora of amazing projects accomplished by us and our outstanding partners, we continue the fight to ensure your gaming legacy is safeguarded and will live forever.

Why? Because video games made us who we are today.… pic.twitter.com/svfwbR1aNj

— GOG.COM (@GOGcom) January 15, 2025

GOG is now also the first Polish institution to join EFGAMP. The team was chipping with their resources for game preservations and currently has more game preservation projects that will be announced sometime this year, as per the official post.

Also Read:Rockstar Games shuts down GTA 5 Liberty City preservation mod

Why preserve old games?

Old games are where everything started; many companies are going back to their roots in what made them big in the first place. There have been several remakes and remasters for older games like Resident Evil. These games were popular among the community since the early days, and sometimes people get an itch to go back and play the classic.

Many of the remakes do provide a big upgrade to visuals and game mechanics and sometimes even bring games to platforms where they originally did not release. However, often in the process of a remake or remaster, the original games get delisted, never to be seen again. This is where game preservation jumps in, and while there is an uphill battle to fight against, many of the classics get preserved.