Access to this game is now limited to the second hand market. This generates artificial scarcity and reduces its potential audience. Luckily Spec Ops: The Line

Access to this game is now limited to the second hand market. This generates artificial scarcity and reduces its potential audience. Luckily Spec Ops: The Line sold physical discs and was not too bogged down with DRM so it's still possible to obtain a license to run the game. While this specific incident is tragic, we should recognize this type of loss is a common occurrence. We need to do a better job of recognizing video games as culturally relevant art that should be preserved. Preserved not only for archival -- but preserved in a way we can share with future generations. The current system of used video game markets and the occasional 'museum' doesn't work well. Emulation is the only thing making the situation bearable and it's legal stability is questionable. There's a few improvements we can do. One simple win is to require all published games to be submitted to a central cataloging and archival agency. This way we know the art won't be lost forever. A bigger win would be to open up alternative distribution pathways for games that are no longer published. Perhaps games not actively published should have significantly reduced copyright times. Perhaps a digital library system could exist for these games.