Preserving videogame history is no easy feat. Besides the ephemeral nature of digital downloads these days, a significant obstacle over the decades has been the interests of corporate entities as they seek to protect their intellectual property. For example, a London-based collector was raided by the police last year after he purchased dev kits reportedly marked for disposal during a Sega UK office clear out.
The collector, Darius Khan, purchased a hardware lot from an e-waste subcontractor for £10,000. This included dev kits, controllers, autographed copies of games, and even prototype cartridges. Some time after listing parts of the find for sale online, UK police then raided Khan's property, alleging that the Sega dev kits had been stolen.
YouTube channel Gamers Nexus travelled to the UK to investigate, sharing an hour-long documentary on the case.
Darius Khan recounted the raid to Gamers Nexus, saying, "Seven o'clock in the morning—approximately—bang, bang, bang on the door. [...] I look through the peephole and I see a bunch of police, probably four or five police officers. I open the door [and I'm told], 'Mr. Khan, you're under arrest for money laundering. We're here to seize dev kits.'"
Even though Khan has yet to be charged with a criminal offence, this case is both strange and concerning. So, let's rewind a bit.
When Sega moved its UK head office from Brentford to Chiswick, London last year, it hired a e-waste company, Waste To Wonder, to dispose of hardware that was left behind in the old office building. This company hired a subcontractor that then took the lot, which contained dev kits and more besides, to an export yard that processes waste to then be sold to various buyers across Africa.
Darius Khan negotiated a deal with the e-waste subcontractor to buy the discarded hardware before it could be processed. Darius began listing parts of the find on both eBay and Facebook marketplace, which included Sony PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, as well as Nintendo DSI and Wii U dev kits. The Video Game Preservation Museum also started an online fundraising campaign to purchase the lot. Though not yet confirmed, it's likely these online listings and the fundraiser are what drew legal attention.
Darius was also contacted by a man using the name Paul, who claimed to be interested in the dev kits he had for sale. This man was actually a private investigator working for Fusion 85, an agency that specialises in protecting intellectual property. The agency has worked with Nintendo in the past, though it has not been confirmed who Fusion 85 were working for with regards to investigating the dev kits.
'Paul' visited Darius' home to inspect and take photographs of the hardware, before going quiet. Then in July 2025, 10 plain clothes police officers knocked on Darius' door (via The Daily Mail).
The officers confiscated the dev kits and prototype cartridges from Darius' home, but left other hardware bits such as controllers and cables. Darius was then held by police for eight hours, during which, Khan alleges, police asked him to sign a form relinquishing his ownership of the dev kits. He refused.
It has since emerged Sega had hired another firm, ITR Secure, to specifically dispose of its computer hardware. Still, sources told The Daily Mail that an on-site manager had instructed Waste to Wonder workers to clear out everything, including the dev kits.
Waste to Wonder denies any wrongdoing. Speaking to The Daily Mail, managing director of Waste to Wonder Michael Amos says, "IT [equipment] was not in scope and we never allow subcontractors to sell items. We no longer work with that subcontractor."
This tangled legal case is still ongoing, and it is not yet clear who—if anyone—will be charged. The fate of the seized dev kits also remains unknown. Arguably, Sega should have returned these dev kits to their respective manufacturers when they were no longer needed. Instead, the company's seemingly lax inventory management and e-waste disposal practices have proved a costly mistake.
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