Video Games Archivists Believe Embracer's Games Archive Is a Bad Idea

Archivists think that the company will be able to use the archive to conduct research and explore the best ways to expand the holding.

The Swedish holding Embracer Group started creating a games archive where it collects various physical video games, consoles, and accessories back in early 2021 and announced this initiative, which, according to the company, is aimed to "embrace the history of games" in May 2022.

Waypoint journalists decided to ask why the company decided to create the archive, and also found out what other organizations which are engaged in similar projects think about the initiative.

According to Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors, the idea of having a collection of video games and game accessories has always seemed appealing to him, and a few years ago he realized that "it would make much more sense to make an archive rather than a personal collection." 

The head of Embracer noted that gaming companies should take care of their history although in the past the industry didn't do enough for it. However, he acknowledged that this situation is starting to change.

"The legacy is always part of each company's DNA; cherishing this is critical to building a strong culture at any company," Wingefors said. "Embracer has a duty to take care of their part, and the archive is one way of doing this."

Archivists, however, think that the creation of such an archive was a PR move for Embracer in the first place. Besides, they believe that the company will be able to use the archive to conduct research and explore the best ways to expand the holding.

"Embracer is in the intellectual property (IP) business. They buy other companies as a way of securing valuable titles. Not just new ones, but 'evergreen' and forgotten titles as well," Professor Darren Wershler, who oversees a collection of consoles at Concordia University in Montreal, said. "Building an archive will allow Embracer to effectively research all the historical game IP out there in order to acquire and control potentially valuable but forgotten titles."

National Videogame Museum director Sean Kelly also shared that he believes a company like Embracer shouldn't have such an archive as it is not a museum and not a non-profit organization.
"This type of project should never be undertaken by a for-profit company. There are so many things that can go wrong there," Kelly said. "I realize that Embracer is a very large company with practically endless resources but what happens if the powers that be suddenly and inexplicably decide their new passion is the history of fast food? Where do all the videogames they’ve acquired ... go when they shift their focus?"

Kelly also doesn't think that having to share an already limited amount of materials available to archives and museums with another organization is a good idea. He believes that rare materials should be under one roof, and not be scattered around the world in different museums.

He also thinks that such an archive should be located in the United States where "video games were born" but not in Sweden.

"Videogames were born here and their ultimate historical archive should also be here. It would be like re-locating the first McDonald’s to Japan or the ABBA museum to the USA. They just don’t belong," he said.

Embracer, however, is pretty serious about its intention to create its video games archive. The collection already has over 50,000 games, consoles, and accessories and it keeps expanding. The company also shared that in the future, it plans to collaborate with initiatives, museums, and institutions to hold exhibitions around the world and help game history researchers and journalists. Although it's a long-time ambition.

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