The Documents and Assets Created During the Video Game Production Process

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to take that first step in helping archivists understand the video game industry by examining the documents and assets created by game companies. This paper is intended as a survey of the records generated during video game production, and an overview of why and how those records are created. It is not intended to be a statement on archiving best practices, but rather a tool for archivists to use when assessing and processing video game collections. It is an overview of how a video game is made and the paper trail left behind that an archivist might encounter.