Embracer Group Has Opened Archive Striving To Preserve Every Physical Game Ever Made

Embracer Group has announced the Embracer Games Archive, which a new web page describes as wanting to “preserve and tribute the games culture for a long period of time.”

A new page on Embracer Group’s website has detailed the company’s new effort in preserving a wide range of games. Heading up the initiative of the archive is David Boström, who is taking on the role of CEO at the company. “Imagine a place where all physical video games, consoles and accessories are gathered at the same place,” writes Boström. “And think about how much that could mean for games’ culture and enabling video games research.”

The archive is located in Karlstad, Sweden, and even though it’s still at an early stage, the archive currently has 50,000 games, consoles, and accessories. Quite boldly, it claims in its FAQ that it wants to “have a copy of each physical game ever released.” According to the page, the next step for the archive is to build a database and start cataloging this year.

Future plans include networking and including initiatives, museums, and institutions, as well as providing help to researchers and journalists. Long-term, the archive also has a desire to “exhibit parts of the archive locally and through satellite exhibitions at other locations.”

The archive acquires hardware and software by purchasing complete, unique collections of formats it’s missing. If someone has a large collection they’re looking to sell, an email is included on the page to reach out to. In the future, the archive plans to post individual games it’s looking for to fill in any gaps.

Embrace Group has been cropping up more and more in recent months, and is now the owner of a number of high-profile studios. Most notably, it acquired the rights to Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, and more as part of a deal with Square Enix. That deal also included studios such as Crystal Dynamics and Eidos-Montreal, selling for a surprisingly low sum of $300 million.