Embracer Group wants to buy all video games in history to create the definitive archive

Embracer Group seems to have no limits. After the high-profile acquisition of Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal studios, the multinational company has been embarking on a new and ambitious adventure in the field of video game preservation for a few months now. So much so that Embracer Games Archive wants to buy all the video games in history to store them as a historical archive in order to "preserve and pay tribute to the culture of video games".

The world's largest video game archive

This way, the Swedish company has so far managed to collect some 50,000 video games from all commercial platforms since the beginning of the industry and is already in the process of classification in its transfer to a huge subway vault located in the city of Karlstad, in Sweden. "We want to have a copy of each physical game ever made," says David Boström, who is in charge of the vault.

"Imagine a place where all video games, consoles and physical accessories are brought together. And think how much that could mean for video game culture and research," continues Boström. Certainly, a dream come true for any collector or lover of the video game industry.

In addition, they hope to exhibit the collection in other places, in order to create communities and collaborate with museums and institutions interested in the preservation of the medium, in addition to facilitating access to journalists and researchers. Although this is not a recent project, considering Thomas Sunhede, Embracer Group's current retro consultant, was a retro collector who wanted to dedicate his professional activity to his greatest hobby. And he has certainly succeeded.

Between 2022 and 2023 they hope to move the entire collection to their new location for further expansion, in addition to testing all the games on their systems to make sure they work properly. They have their work cut out for them.

Source | Vice