The Strong National Museum of Play has announced this year’s World Gaming Hall of Fame inductees, and as always, they’re all worth adding. Angry Birds, Silent Hill, Dragon Quest And FIFA international football make up the class of 2026.
Since its debut in 2009, Rovio’s Angry Birds series has seen people find joy in using a catapult to launch angry feathered friends at pigs sheltering in flimsy structures. A decade earlier, Konami silent Hill began its reign of terror with a psychological horror game that paved the way for a long-running hit franchise.
In 1986, Dragon Quest of Enix (now part of Square Enix) helped forge a template for modern role-playing games. FIFA international footballreleased in 1993, is the origin of the successful FIFA series from Electronic Arts. It remains the largest sports game franchise in the world, even if EA no longer holds the FIFA license.
Other games that made this year’s shortlist were Frogger, Galaga, League of Legends, Mega Man, PaRappa the Rapper, RuneScape, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim And Tokimeki Memorial. This year’s inductees join 49 other influential games in The Strong’s World Gaming Hall of Fame, including last year’s additions from GoldenEye 007, Earthquake, Defender And Tamagotchi.