Open world information

Video games
Platforms Arcade video game Console game Game console Home console Handheld console Electronic game Audio game Electronic handheld Online game Browser game Social-network game Mobile game PC game Linux Mac Virtual reality game
Genres Action Beat 'em up Hack and slash Fighting Platform Shooter Survival Battle royale Action-adventure Stealth Adventure Interactive fiction Interactive movie Visual novel Gacha Horror Survival horror Licensed Masocore Massively multiplayer online Role-playing Action role-playing Tactical role-playing Sci-fi Simulation Construction and management Life simulation Sports Vehicle Strategy 4X Auto battler Multiplayer online battle arena Real-time strategy Real-time tactics Tower defense Turn-based strategy Turn-based tactics Cozy game
Lists Arcade games highest-grossing Best-selling games franchises Longest-running franchises Most-played mobile games Games considered the best Game of the Year soundtracks Negative reception Cancelled games
Development Game AI Game design Video game design Interaction Programming Art Graphics Music
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In video games, an open world is a virtual world in which the player can approach objectives freely, as opposed to a world with more linear and structured gameplay.^[1][2] Notable games in this category include The Legend of Zelda (1986), Grand Theft Auto V (2013) and Minecraft (2011).^[3][4]

Games with open or free-roaming worlds typically lack level structures like walls and locked doors, or the invisible walls in more open areas that prevent the player from venturing beyond them; only at the bounds of an open-world game will players be limited by geographic features like vast oceans or impassable mountains. Players typically do not encounter loading screens common in linear level designs when moving about the game world, with the open-world game using strategic storage and memory techniques to load the game world dynamically and seamlessly. Open-world games still enforce many restrictions in the game environment, either because of absolute technical limitations or in-game limitations imposed by a game's linearity.^[5]

While the openness of the game world is an important facet to games featuring open worlds, the main draw of open-world games is about providing the player with autonomy—not so much the freedom to do anything they want in the game (which is nearly impossible with current computing technology), but the ability to choose how to approach the game and its challenges in the order and manner as the player desires while still constrained by gameplay rules.^[6] Examples of high level of autonomy in computer games can be found in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) or in single-player games adhering to the open-world concept such as the Fallout series. The main appeal of open-world gameplay is that it provides a simulated reality and allows players to develop their character and its behavior in the direction and pace of their own choosing. In these cases, there is often no concrete goal or end to the game, although there may be the main storyline, such as with games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.