The "Serious Games Museum" is scheduled to officially open in February 2027. The first location will borrow space from a workshop complex facility in Nishitokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, to collect and preserve games used in corporate training, local government initiatives, and NPO activities.
Board game editor Yasuhide Ishigami introduced this concept at the "Osaka Serious Games Day" held on October 24. Having participated in the development of over 150 games, he pointed out that games for education, training, and social issues have long lacked standardized evaluation criteria for cross-comparison. University research typically measures the effectiveness of individual titles only, making it difficult for new creators to access older works on similar themes.
Many serious games are not publicly available for sale. Corporate training games may be discontinued due to annual budget changes or staff turnover, while event-based games created by local governments and NPOs may be archived or discarded once projects end. Ishigami cited the "Saizeriya Store Operations Game," which he helped develop, as an example. Although it received a recommendation from the Jury of the Japan Media Arts Festival, it is no longer in use, and there is no contact point for researchers.
The museum plans to engage in collection, preservation, research, exhibitions, and educational outreach. A soft opening is planned for November 2026 with a fully reservation-based system. The museum will also establish a research membership program with an annual fee of 10,000 yen. The first-year goals include collecting 100 games, securing exhibition and research permissions for 30 titles involving trade secrets, and recruiting 150 members. The related crowdfunding campaign reached its goal on October 23.