Modern gamers may permanently lose the ability to play 96% of old games released in Australia. This conclusion was reached by the National Film & Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA).
Reach for the Stars
NFSA surveyed 54 organizations worldwide that focus on preserving gaming heritage. Activists reported that even they find it challenging to find and preserve classic games due to numerous financial, legal, technical, and other issues. They also pointed out that simply finding a disc/cartridge with a game and adding it to a collection is not enough. Over time, physical media degrades, making the game unplayable. Copyright laws obstruct the creation of new copies. Moreover, due to these laws, many games can only be played on original devices, not on emulators, for example.
Organizations noted that preserving games is becoming an increasingly complex task because gaming companies are now more frequently opting for digital releases over physical media. In addition, it's unclear how to preserve live-service games.
Recall that similar findings were shared last year by the Video Game History Foundation in the United States. According to their estimates, 87% of classic games published in the U.S. are at risk of disappearing.