Photo of one of the side tables of the Coolection booth at Retroworld Expo

Retroworld Expo and the Importance of the Second-Hand Market

Written by: Beth, Contributing Writer for Coolection

Published on October 9, 2026

Time to read 5 min

Over the years, we have seen a steadily increasing drive from large corporations to end physical media and go all digital, which in turn threatens to stifle market options and eliminate ownership of games. We witnessed the full transition of PC games to digital only, the switch of actual games on discs to just codes, the increase of digital-only releases, and now, Sony’s announcement to discontinue physical games. So, perhaps now more than ever, we need events like this one.

RETROWORLD EXPO

Retroworld Expo started in 2015, a Connecticut-based organization founded by gamers passionate about the gaming community, game preservation, and celebrating the ingenuity behind game design. This annual convention has served as an important piece of keeping retro gaming alive and game preservation in general.

Walking through the aisles of the convention floor, you see evidence of the love for gaming all around, from vendor booths full of retro treasures to content creators displaying CRTVs running NES games and open source gaming software. There’s always at least one booth set up for cleaning and restoring old systems and games, and many artists showing off their passion in different mediums, from MTG token art to fancy D&D dice to Pokemon terrariums. The Hartford Convention Center comes alive with love for gaming.

IT'S A LICENSE, NOT A GAME

The language surrounding digital media purchases being just for the “license” and not the game itself has been around for a long time, with the earliest EULA example in gaming being from 1985’s Pitfall II (Gamehistory, 2026). But it has been thrown into the limelight in recent years due to two main issues: 1. Efforts from corporations to go fully digital and 2. Backlash against this language being buried in EULAs and not clearly stated during the purchase process.

A screenshot from the store page of Steam with the text "A purchase of a digital product grants a license for the product on Steam" highlighted

Image from personal Steam library

LEGAL BACKLASH

In September 2024, California signed legislation that forces digital storefronts to clearly state that customers are purchasing a license to access the digital media, not the media itself. It was set to go into effect the following year, but Steam decided to get ahead of it by posting a notice within their shopping cart system. Not everyone was as proactive as Steam.

In June of this year, several California-based consumers banded together to sue Sony for not clearly disclosing that, when they purchased Resident Evil Requiem, they were not being granted permanent ownership or access to it (Fortune, 2026). Sony argued that, because two of the game purchases were just 11 days apart, it wasn’t plausible that those customers believed they owned the games outright – how could anyone buy the same copy at any given time? (Fortune, 2026). They have filed a motion to dismiss, but the case is currently pending.

In addition to the Sony lawsuit, Gamestop has also been sued for allegedly violating the new California law. The customer claims that the store’s page for Pokemon Legends: Arceus doesn’t include information about the purchasing of a game license rather than the actual game (Fortune, 2026). This lawsuit is also ongoing.

While it’s good to see California acting to ensure clear language for its consumers, and that it may encourage other states to follow suit, the heart of the problem is still present: We are, and have been, purchasing licenses for games, which means they can be revoked at any time. If a game license can be revoked, especially en masse – like what happened with “The Crew” – then games can simply be wiped from history.

RETRO MEANS OWNERSHIP

Although EULAs and their legalese about purchasing licenses rather than games have been around for a long time, so have physical games – discs and cartridges where the game actually exists on the hardware, not just a code to give you access to downloading the game. We have seen the decline of this, as well as the decline in general of producing physical games, but we have a vast library of gaming history to look to for examples of games that you can actually own. The retro gaming scene is a huge part of this. When you purchase a SNES cartridge, you own that cartridge – and by extension, the game that is on it. The second-hand retro market enables gamers to build and explore a library of games that they can truly own, and in today's world of owning nearly nothing, that’s a wonderful feeling.

Keep Gaming Alive

Let’s not sugarcoat it: it’s been a rough ride for the gaming community. Unfriendly consumer practices, cancelled projects, mass layoffs, studio closures – the list goes on. But it’s nice to know that, despite all these challenges, there are real ongoing efforts to keep gaming alive. Gaming that is truly “for the players”.

One of those efforts is Stop Killing Games, a consumer movement that was started in 2024 in response to the unceremonious shutdown of The Crew, rendering it unavailable to everyone who purchased it due to it requiring a constant internet connection (Wikipedia). Although no changes have been made to law as a result of the multiple petitions, the movement has become very popular and has cast a spotlight on one of the most glaring issues of the video games industry.

In addition to consumer movements, there are also organizations working to preserve gaming history, such as the Video Game History Foundation. This non-profit was founded in 2016 by leading historian Frank Cifaldi, and works to preserve games, box art, manuals, and promo materials (Wikipedia).

Then you have websites built to help consumers in their own game preservation efforts, such as doesitplay.org, an online, international community that is providing information on the future playability of physical games. You can go to their website, type in the name of a game you own a physical copy of (or would like to purchase), and it will tell you if the game can be played offline, and if the game requires a download.

And of course you have events like Retroworld Expo, where gamers are brought together to share collections, add to their collections, preserve gaming history, and discover games that they can truly own.

GAMING PRESERVATION NEEDS GAMERS

Just as music needs musicians and art needs artists, gaming needs gamers. We are as much a part of the effort to preserve it as any of the non-profits, the collaborative websites, the second-hand markets, etc. Each gamer can contribute, in their own way, to keeping gaming alive. Sometimes that can just mean taking good care of your game collection. Sometimes it can mean participating in events like Retroworld Expo.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth at this year’s Retroworld Expo! We greatly appreciate your support. We are passionate about game preservation, positive consumer practices, and keeping gaming alive, and we wouldn’t be able to participate in these important events without you – our customers. We hope to see you next year!