Open-world games have been trending for more than 10 years now, as The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim's popularity set the course in 2011. While Elder Scrolls games were open-world before, Skyrim hit a new level of popularity for the series. Immediately, other game companies and developers took notice. Since then, a ton of games have been open world. While some fans may be tired of the trend, the open-world formula has kept bringing out bestsellers such as Elden Ring, The Witcher 3, Red Dead Redemption 2, Horizon Zero Dawn, Metal Gear Solid 5, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. All of these games came out after Skyrim and were loved by the gaming community.
This has proven that Skyrim was far from a one-hit-wonder. There is something to open-world games that really work magic for players. It makes exploration a big part of the game and gives room for discovering something new in every playthrough, and it can greatly increase the hours a player can put into a game, giving more entertainment per dollar.
What Makes Open-World Games Special
With such a big world to explore, two players do not often experience an open world game the same way. One may discover something different from the other. They can go in different directions and do quests in an entirely different order. While this can also be achieved with RPG choices, the open world raises the experience up to a new level of freedom that also encourages the player to go about the game at their own pace.
Exploration is a big part of open-world popularity. Players can find new enemies, Easter eggs, quests, collectibles, and characters in various parts of the vast map. Some of these can be easily seen while others can be quite hidden. With such a big map, discovering these things can make a player feel rewarded for their efforts. A linear game does not give the same sense of accomplishment in discovery, as finding a secret is less fantastic on a smaller map. Open-world games also have a lot of replay value. When replaying a linear game, not much is different, but when replaying an open-world game, everything can be done in a different order.
The Many Successful Open-World Games
Popularity typically dies out, but open-world games keep having success stories that keep the popularity high. Series that weren't always open-world decided to give it a try and were met with acclaim, such as Breath of the Wild in the Legend of Zelda series. Companies such as FromSoftware were known for making linear games, but then Elden Ring came out and was FromSoftware's greatest hit yet. With how popular and recent Elden Ring has been, it proves that the open-world trend of games is not likely to die out anytime soon.
Of course, there are unsuccessful open-world games, but they are not often discussed. Ones that were a topic of discussion got better with time and patches, such as No Man's Sky and Cyberpunk 2077. There are players that believe open-world games sacrifice their writing, and they do have a point. Worlds can feel big but at the cost of feeling empty. In that sense, open-world games can be risky for developers. While there are a lot of success stories, players can get bored quickly because the plot, characters, and lore are spread out too thin on the enormous map. However, the benefits of open worlds have far outweighed the criticisms in a wide variety of games created by popular and talented developers.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available for PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.