87% of video games released in the United States before 2010 are out of print, and no five-year period in the medium’s history has more than 20% of its catalogue commercially available. That measurement, from the Video Game History Foundation and Software Preservation Network Game Availability Study, still stands as the only systematic count of what survives, and the legal route to fixing it closed in October 2024 when the U.S. Copyright Office refused to let libraries share preserved games remotely. Meanwhile the commercial side of retro is growing fast: Atari booked roughly USD 51 million in organic revenue for the year to March 2026, up about 40%. The figures below come from the Video Game History Foundation, the U.S. Copyright Office record, Nintendo’s investor disclosures, GOG’s own program reporting, and Atari’s published results.
TL;DR
- 87% of pre-2010 US game releases are out of print and classified as critically endangered (Video Game History Foundation, Game Availability Study 2023)
- Only 13% remain commercially available, plus or minus 2.5 points (VGHF and Software Preservation Network 2023)
- No five-year period in the study exceeded 20% availability (VGHF 2023)
- Commodore 64 availability is the worst measured at 4.5% (VGHF 2023)
- Game Boy family availability is 5.87%, with another 6.5% lost when the 3DS and Wii U eShops closed (VGHF 2023)
- Pre-1985 games sit below 3% availability (VGHF 2023)
- The US Copyright Office rejected a remote-access preservation exemption in October 2024 (US Copyright Office)
- The next DMCA triennial petition window opened in June 2026 (US Copyright Office)
- Nintendo Classics now spans more than 300 titles across eight legacy systems (Nintendo)
- Nintendo reported 34 million paid Switch Online memberships as of September 30, 2025 (Nintendo)
- GOG’s Preservation Program absorbed 267 games and shipped 1,461 improvements across 2024 and 2025 (GOG)
- Atari reported approximately USD 51 million organic revenue for FY2026, up about 40% (Atari)
- Atari manages more than 400 unique games and franchises (Atari)
1. How Much of Game History You Can Still Buy
The headline number has been quoted so often that its precision gets lost. The Game Availability Study found 13% of games released in the United States before 2010 still in print, with a margin of error of 2.5 points at 95% confidence, which is the difference between a talking point and a measurement. The comparison the authors drew matters more than the figure: for most of the twentieth century’s other media, a researcher can reach the source material through a library. For games, the default state is commercial unavailability with no institutional fallback.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-2010 US games still in print | 13% | VGHF and SPN, 2023 |
| Pre-2010 US games out of print | 87% | VGHF and SPN, 2023 |
| Margin of error | plus or minus 2.5 points, 95% CI | VGHF and SPN, 2023 |
| Random sample size used for the estimate | 1,500 titles | VGHF and SPN, 2023 |
| Broader dataset examined | over 4,000 games | VGHF and SPN, 2023 |
| Time period covered | 1960 to 2009 | VGHF and SPN, 2023 |
| Data accuracy cutoff | April 15, 2023 | VGHF and SPN, 2023 |
| Research period | four months, volunteers and university researchers | VGHF and SPN, 2023 |
Published summaries cite both 1,500 and 4,000-plus as the sample, because the study combined a random sample drawn from MobyGames for its statistical estimate with a fuller census of specific libraries. Source: Video Game History Foundation, 87% Missing.
2. Availability by Platform and Era
Averages hide the platforms where the situation is close to total loss. Commodore 64 games are 4.5% available and the Game Boy family 5.87%, against 12% for the PlayStation 2, and the pattern holds that older and more commercially marginal hardware fares worst. The Game Boy line carries the study’s most pointed finding: an extra 6.5% of that library was purchasable through the 3DS and Wii U eShops until Nintendo shut them, which is a rare case of preservation loss being observable in real time rather than inferred.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Commodore 64 availability | 4.5% | VGHF and SPN, 2023 |
| Game Boy family availability | 5.87% | VGHF and SPN, 2023 |
| Game Boy titles lost with eShop closures | additional 6.5% | VGHF and SPN, 2023 |
| PlayStation 2 availability | 12% | VGHF and SPN, 2023 |
| Pre-1985 availability | under 3% | VGHF and SPN, 2023 |
| Best-performing five-year period | still under 20% | VGHF and SPN, 2023 |
| Method for the Game Boy figure | complete library census | VGHF and SPN, 2023 |
| Treatment of substantially different remakes | counted separately | VGHF and SPN, 2023 |
The remake rule matters for interpretation: a modern reimagining does not count as the original being available, which is why some heavily remade franchises still register as lost at the title level. Source: The Game Availability Study, explained.
3. The Legal Wall
Preservation is not primarily a technical problem in 2026, it is a licensing one. In October 2024 the U.S. Copyright Office declined to expand the Section 1201 exemption that would have allowed libraries and archives to provide remote access to out-of-print games, ending a three-year petition brought by the Video Game History Foundation and the Software Preservation Network. The stated reasoning was the risk that preserved games would be used recreationally rather than for research, a standard not applied to film or music archives in the same way.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Ruling date | October 2024 | US Copyright Office |
| Petition duration before ruling | three years | VGHF |
| Petitioners | VGHF and Software Preservation Network | VGHF |
| Opposing party | Entertainment Software Association | VGHF |
| Stated concern in the ruling | recreational use of preserved games | US Copyright Office |
| Practical effect | no remote access; on-site only | VGHF |
| Next petition window opened | June 2026 | US Copyright Office |
| Rulemaking cycle length | three years (triennial) | US Copyright Office |
Under the current rules a researcher must physically travel to an institution holding a copy, which for a medium whose surviving artefacts are scattered across private collections is close to a null right. Community-run preservation of the modding ecosystem sits in a similarly grey zone. Sources: VGHF statement on the 2024 ruling and Game Developer’s report on the decision.
4. What the Platform Holders Actually Keep Alive
Official back catalogues are the main legal channel through which most people touch old games, and they are growing without closing the gap. Nintendo Classics now spans more than 300 titles across eight legacy systems, yet Nintendo reported 34 million paid Switch Online memberships as of September 30, 2025, unchanged year over year despite the Switch 2 launch that June. Subscription retro is a retention feature, not a growth engine. GOG’s approach is narrower and deeper: fewer titles, but a maintenance commitment attached to each one.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Nintendo Classics catalogue | over 300 titles | Nintendo |
| Legacy systems covered | NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, Game Boy, GBA, Virtual Boy, Genesis | Nintendo |
| GameCube library added | June 2025, Expansion Pack tier | Nintendo |
| Virtual Boy library added | February 17, 2026, Expansion Pack tier | Nintendo |
| Paid Switch Online memberships | 34 million (September 30, 2025) | Nintendo |
| Year-over-year change in memberships | flat | Nintendo |
| Games entering GOG Preservation Program, 2024 to 2025 | 267 | GOG |
| Preservation improvements delivered | 1,461 | GOG |
| Additional titles added in early 2026 | 10 | GOG |
The GOG figure is the more useful preservation metric of the two, because 1,461 improvements across 267 games measures work done on compatibility and restored content rather than catalogue size. Broader context on paid tiers sits in our gaming subscription statistics and hardware context in our Nintendo Switch 2 roundup. Sources: GOG Preservation Program and Nintendo’s updated membership figures.
5. Retro as a Business
The most-quoted retro market figures in circulation have no primary source behind them, so the honest way to size the commercial side is through companies that file results. Atari reported approximately USD 51 million in organic revenue for the year ended March 31, 2026, up around 40%, or roughly USD 64 million including Thunderful, a 79% increase and its highest revenue in over a decade. A back catalogue business built on acquisitions of Digital Eclipse, Nightdive Studios, Intellivision, and Infogrames is now a third consecutive year into double-digit growth.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Organic revenue, FY2026 | approx. USD 51 million | Atari |
| Organic growth year over year | approx. 40% | Atari |
| Revenue including Thunderful | approx. USD 64 million | Atari |
| Growth including acquisitions | approx. 79% | Atari |
| Fiscal year end | March 31, 2026 | Atari |
| Consecutive years of high growth | three | Atari |
| New releases during FY2026 | approx. 17 | Atari |
| Games and franchises managed | over 400 | Atari |
| Full-year operating income expectation | positive | Atari |
| Full-year operating cash flow expectation | positive | Atari |
Atari is one company and not a proxy for the category, but it is the only pure-play retro publisher of scale that reports publicly, which makes it the best available read on whether the commercial revival is real. Storefront-level context sits in our Steam statistics. Sources: Atari preliminary FY2026 revenues and business update and the full release on Actusnews.
Summary: Retro Gaming by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-2010 US games still in print | 13% | VGHF and SPN |
| Pre-2010 US games out of print | 87% | VGHF and SPN |
| Margin of error on the estimate | plus or minus 2.5 points | VGHF and SPN |
| Period covered by the study | 1960 to 2009 | VGHF and SPN |
| Best five-year period availability | under 20% | VGHF and SPN |
| Commodore 64 availability | 4.5% | VGHF and SPN |
| Game Boy family availability | 5.87% | VGHF and SPN |
| Game Boy titles lost with eShop closures | additional 6.5% | VGHF and SPN |
| PlayStation 2 availability | 12% | VGHF and SPN |
| Pre-1985 availability | under 3% | VGHF and SPN |
| DMCA remote-access exemption ruling | rejected, October 2024 | US Copyright Office |
| Next petition window | opened June 2026 | US Copyright Office |
| Nintendo Classics catalogue | over 300 titles | Nintendo |
| Legacy systems on Nintendo Classics | 8 | Nintendo |
| Paid Switch Online memberships | 34 million | Nintendo |
| Switch Online membership growth | flat year over year | Nintendo |
| GOG Preservation Program intake, 2024 to 2025 | 267 games | GOG |
| GOG preservation improvements | 1,461 | GOG |
| Atari organic revenue, FY2026 | approx. USD 51 million | Atari |
| Atari organic growth | approx. 40% | Atari |
| Atari revenue including Thunderful | approx. USD 64 million | Atari |
| Atari games and franchises | over 400 | Atari |
Methodology and Sources
- Availability percentages, platform and era breakdowns, sample sizes, and the margin of error come from the Game Availability Study published by the Video Game History Foundation and the Software Preservation Network in July 2023 (summary, methodology explainer). Data accuracy cutoff was April 15, 2023.
- The Section 1201 ruling, its reasoning, the parties involved, and the timing of the next petition window come from the Copyright Office record as documented by the petitioners (VGHF statement) and contemporaneous trade reporting (Game Developer).
- Nintendo Classics catalogue scope and system coverage come from Nintendo’s own support documentation (Nintendo Classics overview and FAQ); paid membership counts come from Nintendo’s November 2025 investor briefing as reported (Nintendo Everything).
- Preservation Program intake and improvement counts come from GOG’s own program reporting (GOG Preservation Program, program update).
- Atari revenue, growth, release count, and catalogue size come from the company’s preliminary FY2026 results announcement dated May 26, 2026 (press release, Actusnews filing). These are preliminary and unaudited.
- Data watch: the 87% figure is the most recent available and dates to July 2023, so it is now more than three years old and predates the eShop-adjacent losses it partly measures. No update has been published. Widely circulated dollar valuations of the retro collecting market do not trace to any primary research and are excluded here for that reason; Atari’s filings are used instead because they are auditable. Nintendo’s 34 million membership count is as of September 30, 2025 and has not been refreshed publicly since. Atari’s FY2026 revenue is preliminary and unaudited, and the organic versus reported split matters because acquisitions account for most of the headline growth.
- Last updated: July 31, 2026. We update this roundup quarterly, and the next major refresh is expected if the Copyright Office rulemaking that opened in June 2026 produces a new preservation exemption.