"The Game Preservation Special Interest Group was founded in 2004, only five years ago. Even in that short time, however, interest in the preservation of digital games and virtual worlds has intensified remarkably. Today, cultural institutions such as universities, libraries, and museums have begun to collect, display, and make available artifacts of game culture, and opportunities for the practical or critical study of game content and technology are increasing rapidly. Game studies, a field that barely existed ten years ago, now boasts of annual conferences, journals, and organizations dedicated to it.
"All of these developments are fine and good. In this white paper, however, we address a threat not just to academic game studies and the historical appreciation of game culture, but also to game developers and the industry itself: the potential disappearance of original game content and intellectual property through media decay, obsolescence, and loss.
"We wish to be very clear about one point, so at the risk of repetition, allow us to say it again in other words: if we fail to address the problems of game preservation, the games you are making will disappear, perhaps within a few decades. You will lose access to your own intellectual property, you will be unable to show new developers the games you designed or that inspired you, and you may even find it necessary to re-invent a bunch of wheels.
"The intended readership of this white paper, therefore, is primarily the members of the IGDA. Our intention in this document is to present the problems that you face, before it's too late. ..."
