There is, perhaps, room to question the tradeoff here. How sure are we that it was substantially increased revenue vs archivability? What if this sort of every-

There is, perhaps, room to question the tradeoff here. How sure are we that it was substantially increased revenue vs archivability? What if this sort of every-30-days check only increases costs without boosting revenue and hurting archivability? As is spelled out in context, this DRM check is not required for the game to function, and the ease with which it has been bypassed raises significant questions about how useful it is for boosting revenue. Indeed, DRM historically isn't noted for actually boosting revenue. Perhaps we are discussing a false belief here, similar to people who claim that end-to-end encryption enables drugs/guns/CSAM/money laundering. Both feel true and seem obviously true, but lots of truth-y and obvious things are false upon close examination. This does not diminish the sincerity of anyone's belief, only its factual basis. It may also be worth considering that videos about games as a substitute for the actual artifacts might be like keeping reviews of plays instead of preserving the text. Useful and important cultural artifacts and context, but perhaps not the same as having the originals. Video game museums exist today, and I found it fascinating to be able to play games from decades past.