The Strong has added another treasure trove of game development artifacts to its museum, this time through a partnership with the LGBTQ Game Archive.
In doing so, The Strong has acquired primary sources as well as articles, websites, blogs, web forums, videos, and images covering decades worth of history on LGBTQ themes in games.
“This collection is a significant resource for anyone studying gender, sexuality, or LGBTQ representation in games throughout history and allows the museum to more fully tell the story of the video game industry,” reads a statement from museum archivist Julia Novakovic.
“From hidden subtext and problematic storylines, to games which let players make their own decisions about a character’s sexuality, queer representation in video games has made immense strides within the past few decades.”
Novakovic notes in a press release that this latest development also helps to expand on the histories of video games already featured in The Strong Museum like The Sims and several Sierra On-Line titles.
The LGBTQ Game Archive itself was first established by Adrienne Shaw and has, over the last five years, developed a collection of information on games with LGBTQ content and themes through the efforts of research assistants and volunteers from Temple University.
“The master list of games compiled via the LGBTQ Game Archive has grown to 1,290 games,” reads a statement from Shaw. “Although this is a never-ending project, my collaborators and I have produced six journal articles or book chapters, several blog posts, interviews or commentary pieces, as well as a museum exhibit and catalog. The website, which has been publicly available since 2016, has been visited 1.8 million times as of December 2020.”
“And now, the primary source materials will have a permanent home at The Strong to help further this important research.”
More information on the materials received by The Strong museum, including an extensive list of what the LGBTQ Game Archive passed along, can be found here.