City spearheads drive for video games archive
City spearheads drive for video games archive
City spearheads drive for video games archive
James Vincent
January, 04, 2026
Summary
Sheffield’s National Videogame Museum is launching Behind the Screens, the UK’s first national archive of video game design, supported by the British Film Institute’s Screen Heritage Fund. The project will survey materials held by development studios and build a networked archive to preserve them for future generations. As physical releases decline, safeguarding digital games and related assets is increasingly urgent. The museum maintains vintage arcade machines and preserves design documents and lost downloadable content. The initiative will also record players’ experiences through oral histories, recognizing games as influential social and cultural spaces that shape everyday life and modern British culture.
Reference
Vincent, J. (2026, January 4). City spearheads drive for video games archive. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8424xzngwo