tl;dr: If you’re an Aussie Flash dev, contact me about games preservation!
Hey! Did you know I love Flash?! The first games I publicly released to the world were Flash games, and some even did quite well! It’s because of Flash that I ended up becoming a game developer, and I’m not alone! I’ve heard so many stories about indie-devs getting their starts in the wild world of Flash, either making games, animations, or just getting inspired by the incredible and insane content people were putting out. It was a wonderful time, but one that got cut short back in 2010 when it was announced that support going to be getting dropped. Countless projects slowly became unplayable or just straight-up got lost to the void of the internet.
Luckily, emulators such as Swivel and Ruffle were developed over the years, which allowed databases like Flashpoint Archive to collect and host over 200,000 projects! We also have communities such as Newgrounds who are not only collaborating to help preserve Flash, but also run annual Flash competitions! Almost every time Flash comes up in conversation around indie-devs, a wave of nostalgia and passion washes through us. As I mentioned, I wouldn’t even be here today typing this if it wasn’t for Flash, so I wanted to give something back.
While the phenomenal efforts of communities and devs have allowed Flash to hold on, we’re not even close to being done. Many games still don’t run properly in modern emulators, and even though community-driven archives do incredible work, the risk of legal action, technical issues, or even just a lack of funding, could mean these treasure troves may one day disappear. Fortunately, at least in Australia, we have a solution! (≧▿≦)☆
In 2025, I spoke with representatives at the National Film & Sound Archive of Australia to discuss game archiving, and was thrilled to learn that they’re keen to start administering Flash projects to the archives! This would allow Flash projects to be preserved at a national-grade level, ensuring the highest quality longevity and support. This would mean that any archived Australian Flash games and animations will be maintained for years to come for both research and public access.
So, hear me out! If you’re an Australian Flash dev, I want to talk to you! If you know Australian Flash devs, I want to talk to them! If you love Flash, I want to high-five you! Spread the word, and get Flash devs to contact me! Generally what we’re looking for are:
▪ Movie Files (.swf)
▪ Project Files (.fla)
▪ Assets & Concept Art
▪ Associated Docs & Dev-Logs
▪ Promotional Material (Trailers, Screenshots, etc)
▪ Interviews & Essays
However, even if you’ve lost these but are interested in the idea of Flash preservation, reach out anyway!
The best way for someone to reach out to me is to hit me up on my Bluesky @silstipro, but you can also go over to my [Contact Form] and send me an email there! Thank-you for your time, and I look forward to preserving a bit of our history together! ^^
If you’d like to learn more about how the NFSA preserves and archives games:
▪ NFSA: Games Preservation
▪ NFSA: What We Collect