The Video Game History Foundation has released the 164th episode of its flagship podcast, the Video Game History Hour, focusing on the critical and often overlooked challenge of preserving digital-only independent video games. Hosted by Phil Salvador, the latest installment features Dr. Colin Post and Marisa Marzilli, both researchers from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). The discussion centers on the upcoming Digital Games in Libraries (DGIL) National Virtual Forum, a two-day collaborative event scheduled for October 29 through October 30.

Throughout the episode, Salvador, Post, and Marzilli delve into the origins of the DGIL initiative, evaluate current collection models utilized by academic and public institutions, and brainstorm future phases and resources necessary to safeguard interactive media. The conversation highlights the mounting structural vulnerabilities facing contemporary digital culture, specifically concerning games released exclusively via digital storefronts without physical media counterparts.

The Rising Crisis of Digital-Only Indie Game Preservation

Independent video games represent a vital pillar of modern creative expression, frequently pushing the boundaries of narrative, artistic design, and interactive mechanics in ways that major commercial publishers rarely attempt. However, the industry’s widespread transition away from physical media toward digital distribution has created an unprecedented preservation crisis. Unlike cartridges or optical discs, which can be archived on physical shelves, digital-only titles are tethered to proprietary servers, cloud networks, and digital storefronts that are prone to sudden closure.

When a digital storefront shutters or a publisher experiences financial collapse, the associated video games frequently vanish from public access entirely. This transience threatens to create a permanent gap in the historical record of 21st-century art and technology. Libraries, archives, and cultural heritage institutions have historically served as the custodians of human literature, film, and music, yet they face severe technical, legal, and operational hurdles when attempting to archive software-based media.

The DGIL initiative directly addresses these systemic challenges by exploring how libraries can build sustainable infrastructure to collect, catalog, and provide public access to independent digital games. During Episode 164 of the Video Game History Hour, the UNCG researchers outline how libraries can evolve from traditional book-lending institutions into active participants in digital software preservation.

Event Chronology and Forum Background

The upcoming Digital Games in Libraries National Virtual Forum represents a culmination of months of research, stakeholder engagement, and strategic planning led by the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s School of Education and related research divisions.

• Initiative Inception: The groundwork for the DGIL project was established to bridge the gap between independent game developers—who often lack the resources for long-term archiving—and cultural heritage institutions equipped with preservation expertise.
• Substack Launch: Leading up to the main event, the initiative established a public Substack publication to foster ongoing dialogue, share preservation methodologies, and build a community of practice among archivists, librarians, and developers.
• October 29–30 Forum Dates: The virtual conference will convene experts, information professionals, and scholars to discuss actionable collection frameworks, metadata standards, and legal exemptions related to software preservation.
• Post-Forum Phase: Following the October event, organizers plan to synthesize the findings into open-access resources, guiding libraries nationwide on implementing sustainable digital game collections.

By hosting Dr. Post and Marzilli, the Video Game History Foundation provides a broader platform for these academic insights, connecting specialized preservation research with a passionate community of historians, developers, and enthusiasts.

Supporting Data on Software Loss and Archival Vulnerability

Industry statistics and studies from digital rights organizations underscore the urgency of initiatives like the DGIL National Virtual Forum. According to comprehensive research published by the Video Game History Foundation in collaboration with the Software Preservation Network, a staggering percentage of classic video games released in the United States are currently out of print and inaccessible to the general public through legitimate commercial channels.

• The Commercial Availability Gap: Research indicates that roughly 87% of classic video games released in the U.S. are critically endangered, falling into categories that are unavailable on modern digital storefronts.
• The Digital Vulnerability Multiplier: While physical media suffers from disc rot and hardware degradation, digital-only titles face immediate extinction upon the revocation of distribution rights, server deactivations, or company bankruptcies.
• Institutional Adoption Rates: A minority of public and academic libraries currently possess dedicated budgets or standardized workflows for acquiring and preserving software files compared to traditional manuscripts, photographs, and monographs.

These data points illustrate the widening chasm between the volume of digital media produced annually and the capacity of cultural institutions to preserve it. The DGIL framework seeks to reverse this trend by establishing scalable models that smaller regional libraries can adopt without requiring massive institutional overhauls.

Perspectives from the Academic and Archival Community

While formal policy responses from major software publishers remain cautious—often driven by strict intellectual property protections and digital rights management (DRM) concerns—academic researchers and cultural preservationists emphasize that long-term preservation does not conflict with commercial interests. Instead, archives act as an essential safety net for culture.

In Episode 164, Dr. Post and Marzilli emphasize that libraries are uniquely positioned to democratize access to independent games while ensuring that obsolete operating systems and proprietary launchers do not lock future generations out of interactive history. By engaging directly with indie developers, libraries can secure archival copies of source code, developer notes, and promotional materials that would otherwise be discarded.

Experts in the field note that independent developers are frequently supportive of preservation efforts. Unlike large corporate entities bound by strict shareholder accountability and complex licensing webs, indie creators are often deeply invested in the historical longevity of their art. However, these developers rarely have the legal or technical bandwidth to maintain long-term digital repositories independently, making institutional partnerships vital.

Broader Impact and Implications for Digital Heritage

The implications of the Digital Games in Libraries initiative extend far beyond the niche worlds of video game collecting and library science. As software becomes the primary medium for artistic, educational, and social interaction, the strategies developed by projects like DGIL will serve as a blueprint for preserving digital culture as a whole.

If successful, the frameworks discussed during the upcoming October forum could lead to standardized library lending models for digital software, wider legal recognition of archiving rights under copyright exemptions such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and increased funding for digital preservation infrastructure in public institutions.

Listeners interested in learning more about the intersection of library science, indie game development, and cultural preservation can stream Episode 164 of the Video Game History Hour across major podcast platforms, including Spotify and the official Video Game History Foundation website, with early access available via Patreon. Detailed schedules and registration information for the Digital Games in Libraries National Virtual Forum are accessible through the UNCG School of Education web portal.