In November 2024, GOG announced the launch of a video game preservation program, ensuring that supported games “will remain compatible with modern systems, even after their developers stop supporting them.” Today, the Polish company is pushing the envelope even further by joining theEuropean Federation of Game Archives, Museums and Preservation Projects.
What is EFGAMP?
EFGAMP was created to promote the preservation of video games and digital heritage. First announced on March 24, 2012, this non-profit organization aims to encourage the creation of archives and improve accessibility to this digital heritage. EFGAMP is setting up an international network of partners to support preservation projects and initiatives, particularly in the field of video games.
The preservation of digital data and interactive multimedia works is a major issue. Since the mid-1990s, the IT world has become aware of this problem, which has given rise to initiatives to avoid the loss of these works due to the physical deterioration of the original media. The EFGAMP thus works to encourage proposals aimed at recovering games from the past, in particular through systems such as emulation or the creation of adapted archives.
EFGAMP brings together several members, including video game archives dedicated to the preservation of works, national libraries and museums which disseminate this heritage, as well as preservation projects which carry out research to develop new hardware and software solutions.
GOG joins EFGAMP
GOG becomes the first Polish institution to join the federation, thus strengthening its position in the preservation of video games. Maciej Gołębiewski, Managing Director of GOG, shared a few words on this subject.
“As a European company, we believe it is our responsibility to play a leading role in preserving the games heritage. Membership of EFGAMP reinforces this commitment. Our next step will be to expand institutional collaboration with museums and governmental and non-governmental organizations around the world. We hope that our experience will contribute significantly to their efforts. We also discuss some exciting new game preservation projects, which we look forward to sharing soon. »
For his part, Andreas Lange, director of operations of EFGAMP, also shared his enthusiasm about the arrival of GOG in the federation.
“GOG brings a unique perspective to EFGAMP as a European leader in digital game distribution. His experience in making classic games accessible to modern audiences complements the work of our existing members by bringing additional digital expertise to our collective efforts. As GOG distributes classic games worldwide, GOG is a fantastic addition to EFGAMP, whose members are primarily rooted in the cultural heritage sector. »
We look forward to learning more about what GOG’s arrival at EFGAMP will allow them to accomplish for the preservation of video games.
