TGV File

What are TGV files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a TGV file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your TGV files.

What is a TGV file?

A .TGV file is an Electronic Arts TGV Video file.

Electronic Arts TGV Video is a custom video format used in several Electronic Arts computer games from the mid-1990s. It stores animated cutscenes with synchronized audio using special video codecs developed by EA. These files are typically created by EA's game engines to pack both video and accompanying sound into a single resource which the game plays during storytelling or intros.

The video content inside a TGV file is divided into frames of two kinds: intra-frames (keyframes) using the "kVGT" chunk type, and inter-frames which reference previous frames via motion vectors, using "fVGT". Audio is stored alongside video in matching chunk types such as "1SNh", "1SNd", etc. After creation, a game engine reads TGV files during playback by decoding the video chunks and sending audio chunks to the sound playback subsystem. Some known games using TGV include NBA Live '96, Need for Speed, Privateer 2, and Cybermage.

Technical signature details: files start with the four-byte ASCII signature "kVGT" at offset 0, include strings like "FVGT" and "1SND" in chunk identifiers. Intra-frames contain image dimensions, palette data and compressed raster data, while inter-frames contain block-based motion vectors and vector-quantised blocks to reference or build content relative to prior frames.

How to open TGV files

We have identified one TGV opener that is compatible with this specific type of TGV file.

Programs that open Electronic Arts TGV Video files

Last updated: August 13, 2026

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of TGV files. Remember, different programs may use TGV files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

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