The original Doom soundtrack will be added to the US National Recording Registry.
Composed by Bobby Prince, the 1993 album will be inducted alongside 25 other recordings spanning 70 years. It was selected from more than 3,000 public nominations.
“Key to Doom’s popularity was the adrenaline-fueled soundtrack created by Prince,” the National Recording Registry said.
“Prince, a lifelong musician and practising lawyer, was fascinated by the MIDI technology that rose to prominence in the mid-1980s as a means for instrument control and composition, an interest that led to his earliest work composing video games.”
It continued: “Taking advantage of his knowledge of MIDI, Prince worked to ensure that the sound effects he created could cut through the music by assigning them to different MIDI frequencies.
“The Doom soundtrack would go on to inspire countless remixes and lay the foundation for future generations of game composers.”
Doom’s soundtrack is the third video game score added to the registry. Last year, Daniel Rosengeld’s Minecraft: Volume Alpha and the Microsoft reboot chime were also preserved.
The Super Mario Bros. theme became the first video game soundtrack in the registry in 2023.
Earlier this year, GamesIndustry.biz spoke to Doom co-creator John Romero about Romero Games.
Together with co-founder Brenda Romero, they discussed the studio’s recent challenges and the broader state of the industry.
