Abandonware is a term used to describe software — most often games — that has been abandoned by its original developer or publisher. The company no longer sells or supports it, and in most cases has no interest in enforcing the copyright. The game exists in a legal grey area: technically still protected by copyright, but practically speaking, ignored by everyone who holds the rights.
The term became widely used in the late 1990s, when the first generation of PC gamers started looking for ways to revisit the games they had grown up with. Many of those games had simply disappeared from store shelves, with no digital re-release in sight. Abandonware sites emerged to fill that gap — communities of enthusiasts who preserved and distributed old software, often for platforms like MS-DOS, Amiga, and Commodore 64 that no longer had a commercial ecosystem.
Is Abandonware Legal?
This is the question everyone asks, and the honest answer is: it depends, and it is never entirely clear.
Copyright law does not have an "abandonment" clause. A game does not enter the public domain just because its publisher has gone out of business or stopped selling it. Midtown Madness, for example, cannot be purchased anywhere today — but that does not mean the copyright has expired. The same is true for hundreds of other classic games.
In practice, however, the situation is more nuanced. Many copyright holders have chosen not to pursue legal action against abandonware sites, either because the commercial value of the games is negligible or because they lack the resources or interest to do so. Some developers have gone further: Richard Garriott, creator of the Ultima series, has publicly supported the preservation of old games. Tim Schafer, creator of Full Throttle and Grim Fandango, has expressed similar views.
A small number of games have been officially declared freeware by their creators. Beneath A Steel Sky, developed by Revolution Software, is one of the most famous examples — freely available and even distributed through ScummVM with the blessing of its authors.
If you are concerned about the legal grey area, the safest course of action is to check GOG.com first. GOG specializes in classic games and sells them with modern compatibility fixes. If the game you are looking for is available there, buying it is the right thing to do — it supports the developers! We include GOG links on our game pages whenever a purchase option is available.
Why GamesNostalgia Exists
We believe old games are worth preserving and should not simply disappear because the business models of the 1980s and 1990s no longer apply. Many of the games on this site cannot be purchased anywhere. Some run only on platforms — Amiga, Commodore 64, Atari ST — for which no official digital storefront has ever existed. We are not aware of any official channel that distributes Amiga games, for instance.
We also go beyond simply hosting files. Every game on GamesNostalgia comes with a pre-configured wrapper that includes the emulator, so you can download and play immediately on Windows or Mac without any technical setup. For games available on GOG, we include a link so you can buy the remastered version instead.
If you are a developer or a rights holder and you believe one of the games on this site should be removed, please contact us. We will act on any legitimate request.
What Kind of Games Will You Find Here?
GamesNostalgia hosts over 1,500 classic games spanning more than two decades of gaming history. The focus is on the platforms that defined PC and home computer gaming before the internet era: MS-DOS, Windows 95/98, Amiga, Commodore 64, and others.
You will find real-time strategy classics like Dune II: The Battle For Arrakis and Command & Conquer, managerial games like Sim Theme Park, action games like No One Lives Forever, platformers like Superfrog, and dozens of genres in between. Many of these games were never re-released in any form and exist today only through preservation efforts like this one.
If there is a game you played a long time ago and you can't find it anymore, let us know!
