Retro gaming broadly falls into three categories: unchanged classic games, revivals of old titles that retain a vintage sensibility but with modernisations, and entirely original but retro-inspired games (think classic aesthetics and simplified gameplay). Beyond appealing to retro gaming enthusiasts, this ecosystem offers blueprints for approaching legacy intellectual property (IP) in the age of fetishised nostalgia.

There’s a major opportunity to recreate the home gaming set-ups and tactility of the pre-modern gaming era’s rituals for millennial and Gen X retro gamers seduced by the genre’s connection with their youth. We survey the landscape, including diehards building vintage kit and emulator archives, hardware hackers’ real-life modification workshops, and recreations of bygone retail experiences.

Supporting the retro gaming boom is a sprawling cross-generational network of social media content creators feeding fans companion content, gaming history and gadget intel. Key categories include connoisseurs posting techy explainers, reviews and hardware hauls, edutainers preserving retro lore, and long-term millennial and Gen X fans reminiscing about their own gaming history.

Globally, 56% of Gen Zers and 42% of millennials are nostalgic for the media of the 2000s (GWI, 2023) – an attitude permeating gaming via Y2K-specific retro gaming. It’s kickstarting online mini-movements and content #cores devoted to the 2000s obsession. Key areas include the resurgence of online proto-virtual games, TikTok’s #gamercore filters, Roblox’s gamified Y2K fashion and e-zines celebrating retro gaming’s feminine side.  

The retro gaming boom is also generating an exciting uptick in crossovers between gaming, art and entertainment, as fans, artists and brands inventively hook into the movement’s visual, musical and storytelling treasures. Attention-worthy developments include mainstreaming vintage gaming music, heritage-preserving TV, pixel art and ingenious brand campaigns.