The Last of Us will join the World Video Game Hall of Fame next month, alongside other classic games such as Wii Sports and Barbie Fashion Designer.
The Strong National Museum of Play in New York has announced the newest additions to its World Video Game Hall of Fame via a press release. On June 30, Naughty Dog's The Last of Us, along with Nintendo Wii staple Wii Sports, classic arcade game Computer Space, and everyone's favorite PC game from the mid-90s Barbie Fashion Designer, will be inducted into the museum's Class of 2023.
The World Video Game Hall of Fame was established in 2015 to "recognize individual electronic games of all types [...] 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" - which I'd say the games listed above do pretty well.
If this isn't enough to convince you that these games deserve a place in The Strong National Museum of Play, here are some stats that prove just how big these games are. You probably don't need us to tell you just how successful The Last of Us is, but just in case, the game series started in 2013 and went on to spawn a sequel in 2020, a PS5 remake in 2022, and an incredibly popular HBO television adaptation earlier this year.
As for the others on this list, Barbie Fashion Designer sold "more than 500,000 copies in two months" after its release in 1996, and Wii Sports and Computer Space boosted the developers that made them. The first of the two helped to shift "more than 100 million Wii consoles worldwide" for Nintendo, and the latter "inspired its creators to go on to establish Atari Inc." - I'm sure you don't need me to explain why this is important.
The Last of Us, Wii Sports, Computer Space, and Barbie Fashion Designer managed to beat out other finalists for the position such as Age of Empires, Angry Birds, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, FIFA International Soccer, Goldeneye 007, NBA 2K, Quake, and Wizardry. All of these games are iconic in their own right but did any of them let you design outfits for the 1950s icon that is Barbie? I don't think so.
Wondering what could also be inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame one day? Take a look at our new games 2023 list.
