The Video Game History Foundation launches its public digital library

As previously announced back on January 24th, 2025, The Video Game History Foundation has launched the public release of its digital library. This digital library is the result of years of meticulous collecting, cataloging, and digitizing video game history materials.

The library will feature a vast array of materials, including promotional artwork, game development materials, press kits, and over 1,500 out-of-print video game magazines. These magazines will be fully text-searchable, making it easier for researchers and enthusiasts to explore the history of video games.

The digital library will be accessible to the public, allowing anyone to explore its collections from anywhere in the world. This is a significant step forward in making video game history more accessible and preserving it for future generations.

Starting today, the public can access the digital library through the VGHF’s website. The foundation encourages donations to support its ongoing efforts to preserve and celebrate video game history.

A highlight for the current collections are:

• Searchable directories and maps from the first 12 years of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).
• An impressive extensive international collection of FromSoftware promotional materials, which was collected by citizen archivist Kris Urquhart and actually FromSoftware donating content.
• 100 CDs of art and press releases from the classic GamePro magazine.
• Over 100 hours of footage from the production of the Myst series, including never-before-seen interviews with the Cyan team.
• The Mark Flitman papers or set of documents collected over the course of Flitman’s career at video game publishers like Konami, Acclaim, Atari, and more.

For those who doesn’t know (and should know), The Video Game History Foundation was founded in 2017 by game preservationist and historian Frank Cifaldi, with the mission to preserve, celebrate, and teach the history of video games. The foundation relies on donations to build its archives and has been working tirelessly to make these resources accessible to the public.

Recently, the VGHF has been vocal about its criticism of the US Copyright Office’s refusal to grant an exemption that would allow researchers to remotely access out-of-print video games. Despite this setback, the foundation has continued its efforts to make video game history more accessible.

Here is the link: https://archive.gamehistory.org/