Germany-based, Internationale Computerspielesammlung (ICS), whose goal was to assemble the world’s largest publicly accessible video game archive, has lost its public funding, leaving the future of the program in jeopardy, according to the Gameswirtschaft website.
With over 60,000 games confirmed in its archive, the future of the database remains uncertain. Although the Berlin Senate and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media supported the ICS with €1.5 million- that initial round of funding was completed at the end of April 2026. The Senate’s Economics Senator Franziska Giffey warned as well that future funding was not guaranteed.
The ICS, now without future funding, has various steps it could take to preserving the collection, which would, or could include getting a physical space for the collection, but would need long-term funding for that as well, which the German Federal Ministry of Research believed was far from a slam dunk from attaining as well.
According to the ICS‘s official website, the future of the project is in serious jeopardy:
“The demise of ICS is very regrettable from our perspective – even though we understand the political reasons. We remain convinced that, as with other media, preserving games as a cultural medium is a public responsibility. We hope that this will be implemented in some other form in the future. Not only will the insights and preliminary work of ICS be helpful in this regard, but all shareholders are also available individually as partners.”
What do you think of the news in the wake of Sony’s decision to stop releasing physical games in 2028? Sound off in the comment section below.
