In this 2019 GDC talk Electronic Arts' Garrett Fredley discusses the struggles and challenges of his work preserving releases for multiple big-budget sports franchises, sharing lessons learned that nearly every team can benefit from.

This is a great talk to watch, even if you aren't deeply invested in game preservation, because it sheds light on the rarely-discussed challenges of archiving and preserving big-budget games within large companies.

Along the way, Fredley touches on everything from creating guidelines for how preserved work that correlates with several teams (engineering, content, marketing, web and mobile companion apps, etc) should be handled to convincing teams to follow protocols that best support future re-mastering (convincing them to keep documentation, utilizing version control solutions, etc). 

If you haven't seen it yet, take advantage of the fact that it's now free to watch via the official GDC YouTube channel!

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its accompanying YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC or VRDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page.