Piepacker combines licensed video game ROMs with open source emulators to allow for instant in-browser play. Plug in a controller if you have it, or use the keyboard if you must. The client also supports video chat, so you can smack-talk with your friends as if you were playing locally. Cloud saves are supported, so your progress isn’t lost when your session is over.

The initial game selection is a mix of retro games for various consoles, including the GBA, Genesis, Neo Geo, NES, PlayStation, and Super Nintendo. Some of these games you’ll remember from their original platforms, while others are new releases meant for old hardware. For example, Xeno Crisis was released for the Genesis in 2019.

“Our goal with Piepacker has always been to build the platform fans of retro gaming have been dreaming of,” said Benjamin Devienne, co-founder and CEO of Piepacker.

Upcoming features include Twitch integration, gameplay rewind, support for loading your own (legal) ROMs, and support for physical game cartridges via the PieReader accessory.

List of open beta games:

• 40 Winks (PlayStation)
• Alligator Hunt (Arcade)
• Alter Ego (Genesis)
• Arsène Lupin - Gentleman Bomber (Lutro)
• Barkley Shut up and Jam 2 (Genesis)
• Blender Bros (GBA)
• Böbl (NES)
• Brave Battle Saga (Genesis)
• Brutal Sports Football / Beastball (Genesis)
• Descent 2 (PlayStation)
• Dragon View (SNES)
• Earthworm Jim (Genesis)
• Earthworm Jim 2 (Genesis)
• Evolution Soccer (Arcade)
• Football Madness (PlayStation)
• FoxKids.com Micro Maniacs Racing (PlayStation)
• Gadget Twins (Genesis)
• Gekido (PlayStation)
• Glover (PlayStation)
• Gluf (Genesis)
• Haunted Halloween 86 (NES)
• Invasion from Beyond (PlayStation)
• Iron Commando (SNES)
• Legend (SNES)
• Legend (Reboot) (PlayStation)
• Loaded(PlayStation)
• Maniac Square (Arcade)
• Micro Mages (NES)
• Mike Ditka Power Football (Genesis)
• Misplaced (Genesis)
• Motor Mash (PlayStation)
• Nebs n Debs (NES)
• Old Towers (Genesis)
• O.D.T. - Escape or Die Trying (PlayStation)
• Psycho Pinball (Genesis)
• Radical Rex (SNES)
• Rage of the Dragons (Neo Geo)
• Rageball (PlayStation)
• Sensible Soccer ’92/93 (Genesis)
• Soccer Kid (SNES)
• Spacegulls (NES)
• Star Versus (NES)
• Steel Force (Arcade)
• Street Racer (Genesis)
• Summer Challenge (Genesis)
• Super Bat Puncher Demo (NES)
• Super Paw-N (SNES)
• The Humans (Genesis)
• Thunder Hoop 2 (Arcade)
• Top Racer (SNES)
• Twin Dragons (NES)
• Ultimate Tennis (Arcade)
• Water Margin (Genesis)
• Winter Challenge (Genesis)
• Worms Blast (GBA)
• Worms: World Party (PlayStation)
• X2: No Relief (PlayStation)
• Xeno Crisis (Genesis)
• Yazzie (Genesis)
• Zero Tolerance (Genesis)

List of emulators used and the corresponding license:

• blastem (Genesis and SMS): GPL 3
• mesens (SNES): GPL 3
• mesen (NES): GPL 3
• fceumm (NES): GPL 2 
• mednafen (PlayStation): GPL 2
• swanstation (PlayStation) : GPL 3
• mame (Arcade): GPL 2
• mgba (GBA) : mozilla public license 2.0
• lutro (lua game engine): MIT

Piepacker is a new free social gaming platform that allows users to play officially licensed retro games with friends online,  from a web browser, without any download. Under development since March 2020, Piepacker opened a first private beta version in late December. Before the beta closed, 100,000 people had taken the opportunity to try out the platform and contribute to its development. After a Kickstarter campaign raising $220k, Piepacker’s beta is now available to the public.