World Video Game Hall of Fame announces 2024 inductees

The World Video Game Hall of Fame announces its class of 2024 inductees today at a ceremony at The Strong National Museum of Play.

The winners include Asteroids, Myst, Resident Evil, SimCity, and Ultima. These five games—which have significantly influenced popular culture and the video game industry—emerged from a field of finalists that also included Elite, Guitar Hero, Metroid, Neopets, Tokimeki Memorial, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and You Don’t Know Jack.

The games are enshrined in the museum’s World Video Game Hall of Fame rotunda, part of the ESL Digital Worlds exhibit at the museum in Rochester, New York. I’m one of the judges and I’m glad to see some of my votes finally pay off.

Asteroids was released in 1979. Atari’s Asteroids offered players challenging gameplay, glowing graphics, and intense sound effects in an action-packed space setting. The game quickly supplanted the popular Space Invaders in many arcades and sold more than 70,000 arcade units, becoming Atari’s bestselling coin-operated game. The home version of the game—made available on the Atari 2600—took the game’s popularity to new heights, bringing it into millions of living rooms.

Jeremy Saucier, assistant vice president for interpretation and electronic games, said in a statement, “Through endless variants and remakes across dozens of arcade, home, handheld, and mobile platforms, Asteroids made a simple, yet challenging game about blasting rocks into one of the most widely played and influential video games of all time.”

Myst was released by Broderbund in 1993. Myst welcomed players to a mesmerizing world of mysterious puzzles and haunting vistas. The game harnessed early CD-ROM technology—which offered high storage capacity but slow loading times. The discs paired well with the slow-paced, contemplative style of the game, though, and allowed for a level of player immersion never before experienced in computer games. Myst became the best-selling computer game in the 1990s, selling more than six million copies.

Robin and Rand Miller recently reunited to make a new version of Riven, the sequel to Myst, from the 1990s.

Kristy Hisert, collections manager, said in a statement, “Few other games can match Myst’s ability to open imaginative worlds. It was a work of artistic genius that captured the imagination of an entire generation of computer game players, and its influence can be seen in many of today’s open-world games.”

Resident Evil: Although it wasn’t the first horror video game, Resident Evil (or Biohazard as it was known in Japan) was the first game to popularize the “survival horror” genre. Created by game director Shinji Mikami and released by Capcom in 1996, Resident Evil spawned a billion-dollar media franchise while it helped demonstrate that video games could offer mature entertainment for older teenagers and adults. As of 2022, films based on the Resident Evil franchise have collective grossed more than $1.2 billion.

Lindsey Kurano, video game curator, said in a statement, “Resident Evil’s combination of cheesy B-movie dialogue, engrossing gameplay, and chilling suspense made it a favorite of gamers searching for more mature video games, and it helped establish one of gaming’s most enduring franchises.”

SimCity: Released by Maxis in 1989, SimCity helped expand the audience for video games by offering a city building simulator that appealed to adults as much as children. Drawing from real-life principles of urban design, it allowed players to build their own city and respond to ever-changing problems. The game generated numerous sequels and offshoots—such as 2016 World Video Game Hall of Fame inductee The Sims—and influenced the development of many city-building simulation games and even real-time strategy games, like Command & Conquer and Age of Empires.

Aryol Prater, research specialist for Black play and culture, said in a statement, “Simulations are some of the oldest forms of video games, but few have had the popularity, influence, or staying power of SimCity. At a time when many people thought of video games in terms of arcade shooters or console platformers, SimCity appealed to players who wanted intellectually stimulating fun on their newly bought personal computers.”

Ultima: Ultima: The First Age of Darkness helped define the computer role-playing genre. Designed by Richard Garriott and released in 1981, Ultima combined role-playing mechanics, a massive fictional world, and fantasy and science fiction themes.

Ultima’s innovative gameplay laid the foundation for one of the most enduring and influential gaming franchises of all time (with eight sequels). Many top game designers credit it with inspiring their later role-playing games, such as Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.

Andrew Borman, director of digital preservation, said in a statement, “Ultima helped define the computer role-playing game genre. Although it may not be a household name, the game, and the series it spawned, are legendary among role-playing game fans and game developers around the world.”

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 9, 2024 and are on permanent view on the museum’s second floor. 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.