Game preservation leader believes piracy is the only viable option for preserving games as Sony goes digital-only

Frank Cifaldi, director of the Video Game History Foundation, has agreed with a widely shared assertion that piracy currently represents the only meaningful form of game preservation, responding directly to Sony's announcement that it will end physical disc production for PlayStation in 2028.

The details:

• Cifaldi responded to a Bluesky post calling piracy "the only extant form of media preservation that exists in games right now," writing: "As the director of a historical video game preservation institution, and someone who has dedicated his entire adult life to this cause, this is accurate."
• In a follow-up statement posted on behalf of the VGHF, Cifaldi said the organisation has "attempted to work with the industry's trade organisation to find a legal path forward, but they refuse to offer a meaningful alternative"
• He called on the Entertainment Software Association to take action: "If platform owners are deciding to eliminate physical media and older digital storefronts, then we'd also like to see trade groups like the ESA offer meaningful solutions for archives and museums to legally preserve digital-only content and make it accessible for research"
• Cifaldi noted the irony of the ESA's position: "Everyone agrees this is a serious problem, but the ESA has repeatedly opposed the efforts of cultural heritage institutions to reform digital copy protection laws to make it easier to do this work"
• Sony's announcement also included the closure of the PlayStation Store on PS3, beginning in select markets from August 2026 and globally in July 2027, leaving a growing library of games with no legal means of access once storefronts close
• Cifaldi noted that museums and archives have been preparing for a digital-only future for some time, but emphasised that preparation and legal access are very different things