Australia's National Film and Sound Archive is now preserving videogames

Australia's National Film and Sound Archive has expanded its remit to include videogames, as well as all related storyboards, artwork, soundtracks and publicity materials. That means the NFSA's archives will steadily accrue a trove of Australian-developed titles, with eight already confirmed for inclusion.

The Hobbit (Beam Software, 1982)
Halloween Harry (Interactive Binary Illusions / Sub Zero Software, 1985/1993)
Shadowrun (Beam Software, 1993)
L.A. Noire (Team Bondi, 2011)
Submerged (Uppercut Games, 2015)
Hollow Knight (Team Cherry, 2017)
Florence (Mountains, 2018)
Espire 1: VR Operative (Digital Lode, 2019)

According to the NFSA's CEO, Jan Müller, the organisation's efforts are only just beginning. "We aim to be the national leader in collecting multimedia and new media content, and it would be impossible to accurately represent modern life without games," he said in a statement. "It is essential that games be collected alongside other audiovisual media, to ensure their continued preservation and access."

The new effort was announced to coincide with Game Masters, an exhibit taking place at the NFSA in Canberra between September 27 and March 9. The eight archived games join an additional 70 designed to showcase broader videogame history. You can learn more about the exhibition here.

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Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.