With the liquidation of Infowars soon to come, Infowars will soon be in the hands a a person or a corporate entity who will use the DMCA to remove any and all Infowars content from all websites including YouTube, Rumble, and even…Steam.

Steam, you say?

SVGS Ventures developed the NWO Wars video game which is available on Steam for $17.76.

However, NWO Wars’ source code is of a closed-source model, meaning that only SVGS has the source code and that it is not freely redistributable. In other words, you are not allowed to view the source code, modify the source code, or reverse-engineer the source code in order to port NWO Wars to Windows, Mac, Linux, or even modern consoles – such as Switch, Wii, PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, or even Xbox Series X/S – or retro consoles such as the Super Famicom (aka Super NES), Sega Mega Drive (aka Sega Genesis, Neo Geo, PC Engine (aka TurboGrafx-16), or even the Atari Jaguar.

The only way NWO Wars can be preserved (as it will soon be renoved from Steam once the new owners of Infowars get their grubby hands on it) is for SVGS Ventures to release the source code as open-source so people can port the game to Windows, Mac and Linux, as well as the aforementioned modern game consoles and retro game consoles.

The current legal situation concerning Infowars – and the potential impact it could have on the future of NWO Wars – is proof of the danger that digital game store fronts have on game preservation. If Media Matters were to buy Infowars and force SVGS Ventures to shut the game down and turn over the proprietary source code, then it’s game over.

However, if SVGS Ventures releases the source code as open-source, then it can be preserved for many years to come.

Imagine if the technology for digital store fronts existed in the days of the Atari 2600 and that the 2600 used digital downloads instead of physical rom cartridges. Thousands of classic Atari 2600 games would have been lost years ago.