How to donate a game

As part of an effort to preserve old games, we allow users to donate rare games which don’t exist anywhere online. These games, unless archived, have a chance of being permanently lost and never played again.

Important: We only accept donations of games on our Missing Games List.

We want to thank you in advance for contributing to our archive of lost games.

Step 1: Make sure the game is on our missing games list

Before donating a game, make sure the game is currently on our missing games list. We have had too many donations for games that are either still being sold, or can be found online. Therefore, we are only looking for games on this list – more will be added to the list as the project grows. If a game you wish to donate is not on this list, and is not archived anywhere else online, please first submit a request for us to add a listing of the game to our database.

Step 2: Prepare files for upload

The file format of the game you want to donate depends on factors such as the platform it was released for. We accept game files in any format. If necessary, we can further process them to make them more playable for users.

If you own a CD of the game you want to donate, you will need to extract an ISO or ROM from that CD. This tutorial shows you how to do this: https://wincdemu.sysprogs.org/tutorials/create/.

If uploading a compressed file such as .zip or .rar, please try to use our project’s file naming structure, which is described in this guide.

All files submitted to us will be screened for viruses or malware.

Step 3: Upload the game to a suitable file host

Once you’ve made sure the game is suitable to be sent, you will be required to upload the game files to a file-sharing website to allow us to access them. We recommend one of the following free services to ensure that the downloads are safe and your data is protected:

  • The Internet Archive (Recommended): archive.org [unlimited] – we recommend using The Internet Archive as it allows your files to be archived in another preservation project.

You can use one of these services if you’re unable to use The Internet Archive:

Step 4: Leave a comment on the game’s page

Once you have uploaded the files, leave a comment on our website’s listing for that game, mentioning the following details:

  • Link(s) to download the game files
  • The platform the files are for (e.g. Windows, PlayStation)
  • Additional information you want to provide about the game, including how you were able to get the files. This is optional.

All links go through a filter before being publicly shown. A member of our team will review the link to make sure it’s safe and appropriate before the comment is published.

Credit will automatically be given to the username you use to post your comment. If you do not wish to be credited, you can write Anonymous in the name field.

Due to many emails being lost, we do not accept donations sent via email.