The developer Cyan Worlds is teaming up with the Video Game History Foundation to digitize over one hundred hours of behind-the-scenes content from the making of its landmark graphic adventure series that began with the 1993 release of Myst.
The news was announced at the annual Mysterium Con (June 30th - July 3rd), with the Video Game History Foundation taking to Twitter shortly after to spread the news of the collaboration. The non-profit organization also asked for donations, in order to help it recoup some of the costs incurred as part of the project.
Frank Cifaldi, the co-director of the Video Game History Foundation tweeted about the collaboration:
"This is a really big deal. Cyan has chosen to work with us directly to digitize its material, and is allowing us to provide access to researchers and fans. I hope this is the first of several hundred similar partnerships with game companies, this is the way things should be!"
According to a blog post on the site, some of the material being preserved includes behind-the-scenes footage of Cyan during the development of the Myst sequel Riven, early concept videos of the fourth game in the series Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, and hours of never-before-seen interviews with Cyan's developers such as Rand and Robyn Miller, Richard Vander Wende, and Richard A. Watson.
The project has currently raised $617 from 12 donations (with a target of $6750 in total), so if you feel like chipping in and helping the non-profit reach its goal, you can head over to the website here and contribute to the cause.