May 7, 2026
Contact: Shane Rhinewald, srhinewald@museumofplay.org 585-410-6365
ROCHESTER, New York—It’s official! Angry Birds soared past the other finalists. Dragon Quest slew the competition. FIFA International Soccer scored big. And Silent Hill scared off the rest of the field. All four games today joined the World Video Game Hall of Fame at The Strong National Museum of Play. These games—which have significantly influenced popular culture and the video game industry—emerged from a field of finalists that also included Frogger, Galaga, League of Legends, Mega Man, PaRappa the Rapper, RuneScape, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Tokimeki Memorial.
The inductees were announced at a special ceremony at The Strong National Museum of Play, and the games are now enshrined in the museum’s World Video Game Hall of Fame rotunda, part of the ESL Digital Worlds exhibit.
About Angry Birds: Launched by Rovio in 2009, Angry Birds became a breakout hit and introduced millions of people to mobile gaming. The conceptually simple game—hurling birds from a slingshot to knock over pigs on precariously balanced structures—becomes increasingly difficult as you play, providing gamers quick fun or endless hours of entertainment. The game has been downloaded billions of times, inspired movies and massive amounts of merchandise, and captured the public consciousness around smartphone gaming.
Says Kristy Hisert, director of collections management, “Angry Birds helped launch not only billions of birds but the entire mobile gaming revolution. It shattered records and helped transform people’s relationships with the palm-sized communication and gaming devices they carry in pockets and purses.”
About Dragon Quest: Released in 1986, Dragon Quest transformed more complicated Western-style computer roleplaying games into a player-friendly console version, setting the foundation for Japanese-style roleplaying games. The game combined beautiful music (despite limited technology), compelling narrative structures, and user-friendly controls into a game that shaped the modern roleplaying game, inspiring other iconic games such as Final Fantasy and Pokémon.
Says Lindsey Kurano, electronic games curator, “It would be difficult to imagine the modern roleplaying games without Dragon Quest. While Dragon Quest’s popularity has always been greater in Japan than abroad, it’s influence on the gaming industry and other iconic RPG games is undeniable.”
About FIFA International Soccer: FIFA International Soccer was not the first sports simulation video game—nor even the first one about soccer—but it is the most popular sports game franchise of all time, with sales continually bolstered by annual releases from publisher Electronic Arts until 2023. First launched in 1993, the game garnered worldwide success and spawned a franchise that has sold more than 325 million games by the early 2020s.
Says Jeremy Saucier, vice president for interpretation and electronic games, “FIFA International Soccer was an instant success. Despite launching in December of 1993, it was the best-selling game in Europe for that year. Given soccer’s worldwide popularity, FIFA had a larger global imprint than other popular sports titles.”
About Silent Hill: Launched in 1999, Konami’s Silent Hill pushed the boundaries of the horror genre with innovative 3-D graphics, a dynamic camera, and an emphasis on psychological intensity. Silent Hill’s sold more than two million copies and sequels quickly followed across a wide range of systems, with collective sales of more than 14 million. A film version of the original game grossed more than $100 million in 2006, and two more movies followed.
Says Andrew Borman, director of digital preservation, “More than its clear commercial success, Silent Hill’s significance lay in the ways that it pushed the horror genre in new, psychological directions that engaged players’ emotions as much as their reflexes.”
About the World Video Game Hall of Fame
The World Video Game Hall of Fame at The Strong was established in 2015 to recognize individual electronic games of all types—arcade, console, computer, handheld, and mobile—that have enjoyed popularity over a sustained period and have exerted influence on the video game industry or on popular culture and society in general. Inductees were announced at The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, on May 7, 2026, and are on permanent view on the museum’s second floor in ESL Digital Worlds: High Score. Anyone may nominate a game to the World Video Game Hall of Fame. Final selections are made on the advice of journalists, scholars, and other individuals familiar with the history of video games and their role in society.
