Distribution
Software distribution methods and channels.
Abandonware
Preserving forgotten games
Abandonware describes commercially unavailable software that enthusiasts preserve and distribute, existing in legal grey areas while keeping gaming history accessible.
Budget Games
Affordable software
Budget game labels offered software at reduced prices, democratising game ownership through value-priced releases that ranged from hidden gems to quick cash-ins.
Cover Tapes
Free games with your magazine
Cover-mounted tapes and disks transformed game distribution, giving readers playable software and publishers a powerful sales tool.
Digital Distribution
Games without boxes
Digital distribution transformed how games reach players, eliminating physical media through platforms like Steam, GOG, and console stores.
Licenseware
Commercial PD
The distribution model where PD libraries sold games at low prices with royalties paid to authors - a middle ground between free public domain and commercial publishing.
Magazine Cover Disks
Software on the newsstand
Magazine cover disks distributed demos, utilities, and full games attached to computing magazines, shaping how players discovered software throughout the disk era.
Mail Trading
Pre-internet software exchange
Mail trading enabled global software exchange through postal services, with enthusiasts copying disks and sending them worldwide, building international communities before online connectivity.
Public Domain Software
Free to copy
The ecosystem of freely distributable software that flourished alongside commercial games - from amateur creations to utilities to abandoned software, spread via PD libraries and BBSes.
Shareware
Try before you buy
Shareware let players experience games before purchasing, creating a distribution model that launched id Software, Epic, and Apogee while democratising game distribution.
Software Piracy
Copying culture
Software piracy shaped the home computer era, from playground disk swapping to organised cracking groups, creating an underground culture that paralleled legitimate gaming.
Type-In Listings
Games you had to earn
Before downloads, magazines printed program code for readers to type in—teaching programming through play and creating a shared culture of hands-on computing.