A Glance at the Current State of Video Game Preservation

A number of cultural institutions have begun to take an interest in videogame preservation — but before materials make it to the archives, they are managed by their creators. Understanding what the videogame industry itself is doing with the concept art, tools, and other records they create is an important step to ensure that these increasingly important artifacts are preserved for future generations. In this talk, Rachel Donahue, doctoral student at the iSchool, will discuss her findings from a preliminary survey of videogame industry (and player community) preservation and records management practices.