Video Game History Foundation releases trove of game dev documents, magazines, and more

VGHF releases a searchable archive of game dev documents and magazines.

: The Video Game History Foundation (VGHF) unveiled a free digital archive with scanned development documents, magazines, and promotional materials from several decades. It features over 1,500 issues, including all 367 editions of Game Informer, which was deleted after its shutdown last year. Though the archive lacks playable games due to copyright issues, the VGHF plans to expand the collection of historical content. The organization supports academic research and content creation while public donations on its website help fund the project.

The Video Game History Foundation (VGHF) has launched a free digital archive containing a wealth of gaming development and promotional documents from past decades. This includes over 1,500 issues and press documents from notable publications like Electronic Gaming Monthly and GamePro, alongside never-before-seen materials from companies such as Cyan and Origin Systems.

The goal of this archive is to support academic researchers, bloggers, and other content creators in accessing primary sources for covering video game history. In addition to retro gaming community contributions, the VGHF provides high-quality original scans and has developed a custom OCR to interpret low-contrast pages more effectively.

Unfortunately, despite its extensive offerings, the archive doesn't host playable games due to legal challenges posed by the U.S. Copyright Office and the Entertainment Software Association. With substantial obstacles to providing remote game access, the Foundation emphasizes the need for continued expansion of their database and relies on donations to carry forward their mission.