World Video Game Hall of Fame Inducts Animal Crossing, StarCraft, and More

After initially revealing the various finalists earlier this year, The Strong National Museum of Play has officially announced the Class of 2021 inductees to the World Video Game Hall of Fame. The list of inductees this year, pulled from a list of 12 finalists, includes Animal Crossing, Microsoft Flight Simulator, StarCraft, and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? That means that Call of Duty, FarmVille, FIFA International Soccer, Guitar Hero, Mattel Football, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Pole Position, Portal, and Tron did not make the final cut for induction.

Just for reference, the World Video Game Hall of Fame inducted Bejeweled, Centipede, King’s Quest, and Minecraft last year. The World Video Game Hall of Fame has been inducting video games since first being established in 2015 with the inaugural class including Doom, Tetris, Super Mario Bros., World of Warcraft, Pac-Man, and Pong.

While none of the titles inducted this year are particularly surprising — it is a “hall of fame,” after all — Animal Crossing is perhaps the most noteworthy given the popularity of its most recent installment. “The freedom of play in Animal Crossing gave the game wider gender and age appeal than many other video game titles of its time,” research historian Racquel Gonzales said as part of today’s announcement. “The low stakes of Animal Crossing also allowed people to play at their own leisure without penalty. These elements may help explain why its latest installment proved such a huge hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, when everyone was searching for a little neighborly sociability.”

The full list of finalists this year for potential induction included Animal Crossing, Call of Duty, FarmVille, FIFA International Soccer, Guitar Hero, Mattel Football, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Pole Position, Portal, StarCraft, Tron, and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? You can check out all of our previous coverage of the World Video Game Hall of Fame right here.

What do you think about this year’s inductees? Are you disappointed to not see some of the others make the hall of fame? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk about all things gaming!