The Strong National Museum of Play has announced the 2026 class for its Video Game Hall of Fame, adding Angry Birds, Dragon Quest, FIFA International Soccer, and Silent Hill to its registry of historically significant electronic games.
The Strong, based in Rochester, New York, curates the Hall of Fame to recognize titles that have achieved lasting popularity and demonstrable influence on the video game industry and popular culture.
The museum summarized its selection criteria by noting it honors electronic games that have sustained popularity over time and have shaped either the industry or broader culture.
That mission guided the choice of four franchises and titles with very different legacies across platforms from mobile to home consoles.
Angry Birds (Rovio Entertainment) — Launched on iOS in December 2009, Angry Birds became an international mobile gaming phenomenon.
Developed by Helsinki-based Rovio, the franchise expanded beyond apps into merchandise and two feature films, marking one of the more visible early examples of a mobile-native IP crossing into mainstream entertainment.
Dragon Quest (Enix, now Square Enix) — First released in Japan in 1986, Dragon Quest is widely credited as one of the foundation stones of the Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) genre.
Created by Yuji Horii with character art by Akira Toriyama, the series has appeared on numerous platforms over its multi-decade history, including multiple releases on Nintendo hardware and handhelds, and remains an influential blueprint for turn-based JRPG design.
FIFA International Soccer (Electronic Arts/EA Sports) — The inaugural FIFA International Soccer (1993) launched what became a long-running football simulation franchise from Electronic Arts.
The FIFA series became a global juggernaut for sports gaming; following the expiration of EA’s licensing arrangement with FIFA, EA rebranded its football games as EA Sports FC beginning with the 2023 cycle, but FIFA International Soccer’s historical role in mainstreaming licensed sports titles is clear.
Silent Hill (Konami) — Konami’s Silent Hill series, originating in 1999 on PlayStation and initially developed by Team Silent, defined a psychological approach to survival horror that influenced developers and storytellers.
In recent years the franchise has received renewed attention through announced remake projects and other media efforts, underscoring its enduring cultural footprint.
The 2026 Hall of Fame class underscores how diverse platforms—from mobile app stores to console markets like Nintendo’s ecosystem—can produce entries that achieve lasting impact.
For industry professionals and historians, these inductions reaffirm the varied paths by which games enter both popular memory and the historical record.
The Strong, based in Rochester, New York, curates the Hall of Fame to recognize titles that have achieved lasting popularity and demonstrable influence on the video game industry and popular culture.
The museum summarized its selection criteria by noting it honors electronic games that have sustained popularity over time and have shaped either the industry or broader culture.
That mission guided the choice of four franchises and titles with very different legacies across platforms from mobile to home consoles.
Angry Birds (Rovio Entertainment) — Launched on iOS in December 2009, Angry Birds became an international mobile gaming phenomenon.
Developed by Helsinki-based Rovio, the franchise expanded beyond apps into merchandise and two feature films, marking one of the more visible early examples of a mobile-native IP crossing into mainstream entertainment.
Dragon Quest (Enix, now Square Enix) — First released in Japan in 1986, Dragon Quest is widely credited as one of the foundation stones of the Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) genre.
Created by Yuji Horii with character art by Akira Toriyama, the series has appeared on numerous platforms over its multi-decade history, including multiple releases on Nintendo hardware and handhelds, and remains an influential blueprint for turn-based JRPG design.
FIFA International Soccer (Electronic Arts/EA Sports) — The inaugural FIFA International Soccer (1993) launched what became a long-running football simulation franchise from Electronic Arts.
The FIFA series became a global juggernaut for sports gaming; following the expiration of EA’s licensing arrangement with FIFA, EA rebranded its football games as EA Sports FC beginning with the 2023 cycle, but FIFA International Soccer’s historical role in mainstreaming licensed sports titles is clear.
Silent Hill (Konami) — Konami’s Silent Hill series, originating in 1999 on PlayStation and initially developed by Team Silent, defined a psychological approach to survival horror that influenced developers and storytellers.
In recent years the franchise has received renewed attention through announced remake projects and other media efforts, underscoring its enduring cultural footprint.
The 2026 Hall of Fame class underscores how diverse platforms—from mobile app stores to console markets like Nintendo’s ecosystem—can produce entries that achieve lasting impact.
For industry professionals and historians, these inductions reaffirm the varied paths by which games enter both popular memory and the historical record.