A multi-purpose emulation framework. Its purpose is to preserve decades of software history. As electronic technology continues to rush forward, MAME prevents this important «vintage» software from be
A multi-purpose emulation framework. Its purpose is to preserve decades of software history. As electronic technology continues to rush forward, MAME prevents this important «vintage» software from being lost and forgotten. This is achieved by documenting the hardware and how it functions. The source code to MAME serves as this documentation. The fact that the software is usable serves primarily to validate the accuracy of the documentation (how else can you prove that you have recreated the hardware faithfully?). Over time, MAME (originally stood for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) absorbed the sister-project MESS (Multi Emulator Super System), so MAME now documents a wide variety of (mostly vintage) computers, video game consoles and calculators, in addition to the arcade video games that were its initial focus.
Note that due to limitations in the workaround this Winget package uses to treat a 7-Zip self-extraction as a successful install, this package does not add MAME to PATH or to the Start menu.
It also does not write to registry, and therefore does not show up among the PC's installed apps, and is unable to be easily checked for updates with «winget update» either.
Technical details
Publisher
MAMEdev
Version
0.289
Release date
2026-07-31
License
Mostly GPLv2, with some subcomponents licensed differently.
MAME is mostly gplv2, with some software from MAMEdev. Check the publisher's license terms for pricing and usage rights.
What is the latest version of MAME?
The latest version is 0.289, released on Jul 31, 2026.
Is it safe to download MAME?
The download button links to the official installer published on github.com, the same file Windows Package Manager installs. You can verify the downloaded file by comparing its SHA-256 checksum with a1aa7912168c9d1b05e611906bc21b8b9be3935822aead36d12a1da363150b7d.
Which Windows versions does MAME support?
MAME runs on Windows and is available for 64-bit (x64), ARM64 systems.
How do I install MAME silently?
Run the offline installer with "mame0289b_x64.exe" -y, or install it with Windows Package Manager: winget install --id=MAMEdev.MAME -e --silent.
How do I uninstall MAME?
Open Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find MAME and select Uninstall. From the command line, run winget uninstall --id=MAMEdev.MAME -e.
Alternatives to MAME
Other Utilities programs for Windows from different developers.
