Best Open World Games: TOP-100 from Skyrim to GTA 6 (2026)

Looking for the best open-world games? Our TOP-100 features only current hits and proven classics for PC and consoles. Updated with the latest 2026 releases! "An open world isn't just kilometers of roads — it's a feeling of total freedom. In this list we've gathered 100 projects that proved there's always something interesting beyond the horizon. We regularly update this ranking, adding fresh releases and keeping only games where the world is packed with events. From fantasy sagas to harsh post-apocalypse — choose your next world."

Our site also has a top of open-world games for weak computers.

2026 promises to be huge for the genre. Some games are already out and available right now, others are still ahead — we've gathered the biggest open worlds of this year, from fresh releases to those we're waiting on in the coming months.

GTA 6 is the most anticipated project not just of the year, but of the entire generation. The action returns to Vice City, the signature analog of Miami, which Rockstar hasn't shown since the 2002 original. This time the city is only part of the huge state of Leonida, inspired by Florida: besides the neon streets of the metropolis, players can expect the Everglades swamps, beaches, quiet provincial towns, and the Leonida Keys islands. Judging by the trailers, this will be the largest and most detailed map in the studio's history.

For the first time in the main series, there are two protagonists at once. Lucia Caminos — the first female protagonist in a numbered GTA, recently released from prison; her partner Jason — a former soldier who's gotten tangled up in crime. Their relationship resembles the story of Bonnie and Clyde: the pair goes downhill, pulling off ever bolder jobs. You can switch between the heroes during the playthrough, as in GTA 5, and the story itself is presented as a big crime drama against the backdrop of modern America with its social media, influencers, and viral trends.

The road to release has been long: the first trailer came out back in December 2023 and broke view records on YouTube, after which the game was delayed twice. The release is now set for November 19, 2026 — for now only on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. A PC version hasn't been officially announced, but judging by Rockstar's past releases, it'll appear later. Expectations are enormous: many are sure GTA 6 will become not just the hit of the year, but a new benchmark for the entire open-world genre.

Crimson Desert is a large-scale open-world action game from Pearl Abyss, the creators of Black Desert Online, released in March 2026. You play as a mercenary traveling across the continent of Pywel in an era of civil strife. The world here is emphatically dynamic: a calm task can be interrupted by a sudden enemy attack or a change of weather. One of the most notable open-world projects of 2026, praised for its freedom and attention to detail.

The Blood of Dawnwalker is an ambitious role-playing game from Rebel Wolves, a studio of former developers of The Witcher 3. The protagonist, Coen, is half vampire, and the action unfolds in the grim 14th-century Carpathians. The key idea is nonlinearity: the story is limited by a compressed timeframe, and the player decides for themselves what to spend the allotted time on, which promises high replayability. The vampiric nature grants special powers, but the world behaves differently by night and day, opening up two playstyles. The project is being made on Unreal Engine 5 and is expected in September 2026 — one of the most intriguing RPG debuts on our list.

LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is a fresh adventure action game with an open world, released in 2026. Gotham is recreated out of LEGO bricks, and you can freely explore it, completing tasks and collecting collectibles. Critics and fans call the game a declaration of love for the entire Batman universe and one of the best games about the Dark Knight in a long time.

Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is a full-fledged remake of one of the most beloved entries in the series about the pirate-assassin Edward Kenway. The Caribbean Sea, naval battles, and treasure hunting return with updated graphics and combat in the spirit of the recent installments. Release is scheduled for summer 2026.

Fable is a reboot of the well-known fantasy series from Playground Games, the creators of Forza Horizon. Players can expect a return to fairy-tale Albion with its signature British humor, moral choice, and a large open world. One of the main Xbox exclusives of the near future.

Forza Horizon 6 is a new installment of the popular racing series, this time with a Japanese setting. Playground Games promises the largest map in the series' history: cherry orchards, metropolises, and mountain tracks. A long-awaited sequel for fans of arcade racing.

Light No Fire is a bold project from Hello Games, the creators of No Man's Sky. This time, instead of space, the developers are building an entire fantasy planet the size of Earth, which you can explore alone or with friends. If the studio repeats the path of No Man's Sky, the game has every chance of becoming something special.

This genre is the foundation of the Open World category. Here the open world serves as a tool for deep role-play: nonlinear quests, detailed progression, and consequences for every decision you make. This section gathers games where freedom isn't just the ability to go wherever your eyes look, but also the chance to become anyone in a detailed universe.

The world of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 can be called semi-open — the global map gives access to many locations. Among them are both story and optional ones, worth exploring for experience and gear. There you can also get plenty of side quests. Completing them helps level up your heroes faster and provides lots of information about the universe. You can learn more about this and about Guillaume Broche's project in general from our review of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

The explorable world in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is limited to two large areas — Trosky and Kuttenberg. You can expect big cities, small villages, and many interesting places worth visiting. It's advisable to explore locations on horseback, otherwise getting around will take an unreasonably long time. We covered the world and much more in detail in our review of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.

In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the second chapter of the Final Fantasy VII remake, several locations await you that are open worlds in their own right. You'll open them up over the course of the main story, and then you can return and explore the territory. Instead of going on foot, it's worth using a chocobo mount or an eight-wheeled all-terrain vehicle. And if you're more interested in the game's story, read VGTimes' editorial opinion on Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

In Baldur's Gate 3, the best role-playing game of 2023, a delightful open world is filled with adventures, unexpected discoveries, and many optional tasks. And your decisions will have direct consequences. BG3 can be confidently recommended to absolutely everyone who's even a little interested in modern RPGs.

The fourth Diablo didn't become a masterpiece like the second installment. That said, today it has no serious competitors in the hack & slash genre. The basic gameplay delivers plenty of enjoyment, and the numerous activities found in the open world can keep you hooked for dozens of hours.

This new RPG from Capcom will surely appeal to fans of big role-playing games in the spirit of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. Dragon's Dogma 2 has many unusual solutions that feel out of the ordinary within the familiar genre. For example, a character's appearance directly affects their stats.

Open-world elements are present in many FromSoftware projects, starting with the first Dark Souls. But large, explorable spaces only appeared in Elden Ring. In the fields and deserts of the Lands Between, you can get lost, accidentally run into an optional boss, or find a valuable item that'll help in further playthrough.

Like the developers of No Man's Sky, the Poles at CD Projekt RED spent several years polishing Cyberpunk 2077. Today it's an excellent open-world RPG that combines the streets of a metropolis with lifeless wastelands. You can explore them both on foot and by vehicle. And among the cars there are combat machines with built-in machine guns and rocket launchers.

The original Wasteland was a source of inspiration for the first Fallout games. But over the years the series went their separate ways. Wasteland 3 is a role-playing game with tactical battles in the spirit of XCOM. You can explore the open world, find valuable resources, and make decisions about whose side to take and exactly how to achieve your goals.

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is a great example of an open-world game. If you decide to just run from one corner of the map to another, along the way you'll see many events that show Skyrim does perfectly fine without you. Giants fend off bandits, a troll tries to take down a dragon, and a few brave warriors have decided to fight a werewolf. In TES 5 you can see a lot even without doing quests. The world here lives its own life rather than revolving around you. GSC Game World once tried to achieve this, but we'll talk about them later.

As befits a good open world, at some point the icons on the map start to make your eyes water. A huge number of settlements, in which you can almost always pick up several quests at once, kilometers of dungeons, dragon lairs, and a lot more. In this world you want to explore every nook.

Despite the fact that the main story can be completed in about 40 hours, the secondary quests will take up far more of your time. Even after 100 or 150 hours of playing, there will most likely still be unfinished tasks. You should only take on the game if you have a spare month of free time. And if you play an hour or two a day, the playthrough may drag on for more than a year.

Dragon Age: Inquisition consists of a dozen separate, independent locations. Each of them is an intimate open world in which you can find many resources, side quests, and even dragons, the strongest monsters in the game.

Are there still people who haven't familiarized themselves with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt? If you're among them, then head to Velen as soon as possible to see for yourself what open-world games should look like. After all, it wasn't for Geralt's pretty witcher eyes that his adventures became famous worldwide.

The developers at CD Projekt Red managed to strike a balance between the size of the map and its content. Across the boundless expanses, something is happening here and there. Somewhere ghouls are finishing off fallen knights, in the forest a pack of wolves has attacked a hunter, and in the deep thicket a leshy roams, striking terror into the locals. Besides such small events, the map is full of those very "question marks" that point to interesting places. Sometimes these locations become the starting point of a side quest, sometimes we find chests with gear there or a lair with monsters.

It's striking how alive the world turned out. Geese run around the villages, children shout counting rhymes, blacksmiths work in their workshops. You'd think such things are in every game, so what makes "The Witcher" different from the rest? Maybe it'll sound trite, but in The Witcher 3 all of it is made with soul.

Another Bethesda game that, though it didn't get the same acclaim as Skyrim, was still loved by a huge number of players. Fallout 4 inherited practically all the merits of The Elder Scrolls 5: a large world full of interesting places and events, a varied bestiary of monsters, hundreds of characters and side quests. Keeping the content, Bethesda transferred all of it into a post-apocalyptic world, and instead of magic and swords gave the protagonist a gun.

In all the studio's games, the most important element was the feeling of exploration. Stepping out of the bunker for the first time and finding yourself on the surface, you immediately get lost and don't know where to go. Over there is a ruined bridge, and in another direction a huge city looms. Whichever route you choose, a whole string of adventures awaits along the way. Robots fire on mutants, bandits show up at the local waitress's demanding she pay a debt, the Brotherhood of Steel gathers for another raid. You too can take part in all these events.

Every numbered Final Fantasy offers a journey through an open world. In Final Fantasy 15 you can travel the expanses of the kingdom of Lucis in a luxurious car. And after installing a certain upgrade, you'll be able not only to drive but also to fly, like in sci-fi movies.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the living embodiment of the term "variability." The journey here is many times more interesting than its destination. The game has many different mechanics that you can combine however you please. The open world constantly surprises you, not with monumental structures or other objects, but with new possibilities.

No one tells you which routes to follow toward your goal. The world is entirely in your hands — for example, if you wish, you can fight the final boss of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild at the very start of the game. Variability and freedom are what make this Nintendo exclusive so significant for the entire industry.

Before the release of Baldur's Gate 3, the Larian studio was known for the Divinity series. Its latest installment, Original Sin 2, plays great even today. The open world in this project isn't as spacious as in Skyrim or in the latest Legend of Zelda installments. But you can set off to explore the nearest territories, take a few quests along the way, start solving local puzzles, and forget about the main story for a long time.

Vampyr is a grim action game in which we play as a vampire. The writers at Don't Nod, known for the first two installments of Life is Strange, put us before a choice — stay human or turn into a monster for good. Each approach has its pros and cons. You'll have to make decisions constantly while exploring early-20th-century London. Every person can be killed, turned into a vampire, or dealt with peacefully. Depending on your actions, the city will change for better or worse, leading to one of four endings.

In open-world games, the setting plays a significant role. Fallout and The Elder Scrolls showed that it's important to let players feel like explorers. And Kingdom Come: Deliverance clearly demonstrates that players sometimes need to be given complete freedom. Let them do what they want and entertain themselves. This approach by game designer Daniel Vavra reminded gamers around the world that they're no longer children and don't need to be led by the hand constantly.

The game's protagonist is an ordinary lad named Henry. He doesn't know how to fight or read; the most he can do is run to fetch beer at his father's request. The RPG genre has accustomed us to the idea that the story should revolve around all sorts of dragonborn, seasoned monster hunters, or saviors of the entire galaxy. But that's not the case. We don't feel a strong connection to the hero, since there are minimal points of contact. With Kingdom Come everything is much simpler. Many gamers can easily recognize themselves in the slacker Henry.

Fallout: New Vegas is considered the best installment of the series since the original duology. If you've played it inside and out but want to check out another game just like it, take a look at The Outer Worlds. It was developed by Obsidian Entertainment, the authors of "New Vegas," and their signature style is immediately felt. The project's action takes place in space colonies, and several dozen planets are available for you to explore.

Disco Elysium is a role-playing game in the best traditions of Planescape: Torment and the first Fallout games. Its key feature is the absence of a combat system and battles. All matters can be resolved only through dialogue. At the same time, you'll have to explore the open world of Elysium to search for clues, valuable information, and additional tasks.

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered is a re-release of the famous 2006 role-playing game, released in 2025 on Unreal Engine 5. The province of Cyrodiil appears with completely updated graphics and a reworked interface, but retains its signature freedom: you can forget about the main story and wander for hours through forests, dungeons, and cities. The cult guilds are also present — thieves, mages, fighters, and the Dark Brotherhood — each with its own storyline. The authors reworked the progression and combat systems, making them more convenient, but the spirit of the original remained the same. A great way to get acquainted with Bethesda's classic in a modern form.

Starfield is a space role-playing game from Bethesda, the authors of Skyrim and Fallout. The player has access to more than a thousand planets in different star systems: they can be explored on foot, colonized, and set up with your own outposts for resource extraction. In space you'll fly a ship that's assembled module by module in a detailed builder, and take part in shootouts with pirates and hostile factions. On the surface awaits Bethesda's signature freedom — several major factions with their own storylines, hundreds of side tasks, and the usual ability to role-play anyone, from an honest explorer to a space smuggler. See on the topic: best space games.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the sequel to Breath of the Wild and one of the main Nintendo Switch exclusives. Hyrule has become even bigger: floating islands and dungeons have been added to the familiar map. The main feature is the crafting system, which lets you assemble mechanisms and vehicles from improvised items, opening up enormous freedom in solving tasks.

For those who value dynamics and adrenaline. Here the open world turns into a huge sandbox for experiments with the combat system, parkour, and various vehicles. The best representatives of the genre offer "vertical" gameplay and spectacular battles that don't get boring even after dozens of hours of playthrough. And if you want story-driven adventures with a focus on exploration, we have a separate top of the best action-adventure games.

Size doesn't always matter. Released in 2012, Sleeping Dogs showed that a map of several dozen kilometers can be completely unnecessary if the authors did a good job on the atmosphere and the content of the game's world.

Originally Sleeping Dogs was conceived as a sequel to the now-defunct True Crime: Streets of LA series, with Activision as publisher. Later the project was frozen, and the developments were bought out by Square Enix. In the end the name was changed to Sleeping Dogs.

"Sleeping Dogs" didn't manage to sell in the millions, but it did earn the recognition and love of players. The audience was drawn by the unconventional setting, which moved players from American surroundings to a Hong Kong full of neon signs.

Far Cry can confidently be called one of the best (if not the best) first-person shooters in an open world. Every installment of the franchise deserves a place in this list (except the second, of course), but we decided to include the third one specifically in this article. Why is Far Cry's open world so good?

First, there's a huge number of side activities here: from collecting items to clearing outposts. Second, the unusual settings that became the series' calling card set Ubisoft's creation favorably apart from its genre brethren. Third, Far Cry 3 is a big sandbox in which you can entertain yourself however you like. Even the notorious outposts are designed to give the player the chance to clear the same place in different ways. Snipe everyone with a rifle, stealthily slit enemies' throats, or atop an elephant cause mayhem with a hundred explosions. You're free to choose your own playstyle. Moreover, as with Red Dead Redemption 2, Far Cry has an ecosystem simulation that generates many amusing situations.

So, let's go in order, why it was specifically Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag that ended up in the top of the best open-world games.

First, there's a great pirate setting here, thanks to which all the well-worn elements of Assassin's Creed feel completely different. Most of the map is seas and oceans, and plowing through them is a pure pleasure. Moreover, treasures may be hidden in the local depths. You'd think they're ordinary crates we've seen many times before, but these are pirate treasures!

Second, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, despite its mythology, is still an "assassin." It has everything we love the series for: the feud between Templars and Assassins, hidden blades that aren't there for show but for proper stealth, as well as a direct story connection to past installments. The game is in our top "Best pirate and ship games on PC and consoles".

A top of the best open-world games couldn't do without Grand Theft Auto 5. Rockstar's creation came out back in 2013 and gathered over a hundred million players around the world. It's interesting to move around the big and varied Los Santos from the start all the way to the closing credits. That said, finishing the story doesn't mean the end of the whole game. After it you can head into the online mode and spend another couple hundred hours there.

GTA 5 is packed to the brim with all sorts of activities. Here you can play golf, tennis, tune cars, stroll through nightclubs, or, like in the good old days, cause havoc in the city in an attempt to earn those 5 stars. If you haven't played GTA 5 yet, hurry to do so! "The great car thief" is one of those games that come out extremely rarely.

Against the backdrop of the failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, many players remembered the previous project by Rocksteady Studios called Batman: Arkham Knight. It's a great game about the Dark Knight with the ability to drive around Gotham in the Batmobile. While exploring the city, you'll find additional tasks connected to famous villains, as well as many puzzles from the Riddler.

In Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain a full-fledged open world appeared. In the territory of Afghanistan and Angola you'll have to solve specific combat tasks using all sorts of means, from knives and silenced pistols to heavy armored vehicles. And allies will come to your aid. For example, Quiet can provide support with precise shots from a sniper rifle. Other stealth games are gathered in our top of the best stealth games.

Mad Max is steeped in the spirit of the film "Mad Max: Fury Road." Here you can expect the thick atmosphere of a desert post-apocalypse, the need to survive amid a shortage of food and water, as well as frenzied chases using various weapons. Gas burners, spikes, and the well-aimed shots of an allied sniper all come into play. While exploring the local open world, you'll complete secondary tasks and find valuable resources that let you install new upgrades on your car.

The action of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth unfolds in sunny Hawaii. In the city of Honolulu there are many activities familiar to the Yakuza series, from darts, mahjong, and karaoke to playing arcade machines. While exploring the island's territory, you'll periodically have to fight, and all battles take place in turn-based mode.

Dying Light is in many ways similar to the Far Cry series. Techland's creation can also boast an unusual setting in the form of the fictional Eastern city of Harran, whose architecture clearly references Turkey. Unfortunately, the villain here doesn't compare even to Joseph Seed from Far Cry 5, but the writers at least tried to give the antagonist some kind of charisma. The towers are also present. But besides all the similarities, "Dying Light" has two important differences that set it apart from its competitor: zombies and parkour.

The original Dying Light completely lacked vehicles, but they weren't needed, since it's far more pleasant to move across the rooftops of buildings. The parkour here resembles both Assassin's Creed and Mirror's Edge. The protagonist can grab onto almost any ledge, as in Ubisoft's creation, but the first-person view lets you feel the character's movements better. Moreover, in Dying Light you can jump not only across the rooftops of buildings but also on the heads of zombies. Dying Light is in our top "Best zombie games".

The game features several types of the living dead: ordinary zombies that pose a threat only in a crowd, and truly dangerous monsters that are best avoided. During the day you can chop up cannon fodder with impunity, but at night hunters come out onto the streets — nimble creatures capable of killing the protagonist with a single touch. The only way to escape them is in shelters.

The game skillfully combines fun and horror, and this combination works surprisingly well. Don't forget the standard elements of open-world games either, such as side quests, notes from survivors, chests, and much more.

All the games of the Yakuza series, except the Like a Dragon duology, are 3D beat'em ups. Besides the main and additional missions, you can take part in many minigames. Among them are karaoke, dating girls, darts, feeding cats, baseball, and much more. You'll have to look for activities in the open world. The action of Yakuza 6 unfolds in two cities at once, Tokyo and Onomichi.

During development, No Man's Sky was presented as a game about exploring star systems with a huge world available for travel. However, the release version of the project disappointed. Many announced modes, for example multiplayer, didn't appear in the final version, and wandering through hundreds of identical planets was simply boring.

But the developers at Hello Games didn't despair and methodically polished No Man's Sky. Updates added not only new content but also additional features, from building your own bases to multiplayer. As a result, it really did become similar to the project we were promised. If you're interested in space exploration, you can give it a try. More space games are in our top "Best space games".

The first Watch Dogs was Ubisoft's attempt to release its own GTA. But the French company didn't manage to beat Rockstar on its home turf. So in Watch Dogs 2 the developers didn't try to surpass Grand Theft Auto, but instead bet on hacking. Most of the time we use drones and hack everything that contains electronics. This fits the story, since the game's protagonists are real troublemakers who challenged the system in sunny San Francisco. Exploring this city and interacting with the local ctOS, which controls its infrastructure, is a pure pleasure.

The action of Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-Earth: Shadow of War unfolds in the "Lord of the Rings" universe. Their distinctive feature is the Nemesis system. It randomly generates orc commanders. And their encounters with the protagonist Talion have consequences. Even if Sauron's servant was defeated, after a while he'll return and be far stronger and more aggressive. A repeat clash can happen completely unexpectedly, so exploring the open world of Middle-Earth contains an element of unpredictability.

Horizon Zero Dawn is similar in structure to the third "Witcher," but there are several important differences, the main of which is the setting. Everything seems familiar: forests, fields, and villages are present, but at the same time, amid all this primitive way of life, robots scurry about.

The motive to quickly find out why humanity came to a primitive order makes you explore every corner, complete all the quests and other side tasks. How do these machines charge? Why are people calm around them? Why has humanity "rolled back" so much in its development? These questions will make you run around all the corresponding icons on the world map. But let's not forget the other aspects of the game either.

First, Horizon Zero Dawn has a detailed and memorable picture. Second, the combat system is able to challenge the player, which makes fighting the iron monsters many times more interesting. Third, what's interesting here is not only the main story, but also the personal stories of many characters.

Besides a strong story, Red Dead Redemption 2 includes and even multiplies all the merits of Rockstar's open worlds. Unlike GTA, here we have the Wild West, and so the activities in this setting are somewhat different. Besides hunting, duels, and robberies, you'll also engage in more exotic things, for example investigating murders or searching for dinosaur bones. And because of the incredible detail of the world, even a routine activity brings enjoyment.

Besides the activities created by the developers, the world here automatically generates many situations, letting the player have fun without doing secondary tasks. For instance, you can anger an alligator and make it chase you across the whole map, only to then watch it run on the ice. Nature constantly tries to surprise you with something, so even on the way from point "A" to point "B" anything can happen. If you haven't played yet, head off to catch up on what you've missed.

Marvel's Spider-Man doesn't stand out with huge locations to explore. And the content of the local New York is rather sparse. Here bandits attacked peaceful citizens, there police chase criminals. Everything is standard and maybe even cardboard, but thanks to the fact that we play as Spider-Man, the emptiness of the world is barely felt.

Web-swinging delivers vivid sensations; the city, though not bursting with detail, looks incredible from above. So during playthrough you don't want to use fast travel, because why look at a loading screen when you can zip to the right place with the wind in your hair. Moreover, even if you descend to the ground, we can meet fans or, on the contrary, the protagonist's foes. It seems like a trifle, but it's nice. Marvel's Spider-Man is in our top "Best superhero games".

If you love open worlds for their huge number of secondary quests and attention to detail, the Just Cause series isn't for you. Don't expect a deep story or detailed locations from it, because it's about something completely different. This is one of the most fun sandboxes in the gaming industry. If you like, before us is an interactive version of "The Fast and the Furious" films. You can blow up almost everything here.

The series is utterly devoid of meaning, but there's no shortage of fun in it. If after a hard day you want to let off steam and, switching off your brain, admire how little towns turn into a huge fireworks display of explosions, go ahead and launch Just Cause 4.

Sea of Thieves is a pirate action game in which you can explore the sea expanses on a sailing ship. While at release the game was criticized for a lack of content, today there's plenty to do. You can work for various factions, attack skeleton forts, fight a ghost fleet, hunt underwater monsters, and much more.

In the Borderlands series, the open world isn't the most alive and detailed. The planets are monotonous, the story is simple, and there's no question of any life simulation. But this is the very case where all these details don't matter, because Borderlands is just fun to play!

The series is filled with bright and memorable characters. The humor and laid-back atmosphere also play into the hands of Randy Pitchford's creation. Despite the fact that the game is a classic looter-shooter, collecting powerful guns isn't the main goal of the game. The main thing in Borderlands is to have fun and enjoy the playthrough with friends, and the number of quests and the scale of the open world let you do that for dozens of hours.

Death Stranding can be regarded differently. For some it's a truly brilliant game that will be remembered even decades from now, and for others it's just an expensive indie that's nothing special. However, Hideo Kojima's creation has one indisputable merit — the beauty of its world.

The game won't make you run between points of interest and shoot back at crowds of enemies. In Death Stranding everything is different. We play as the courier Sam Bridges, so all we need to do is carry packages. Sounds boring? But that's exactly DS's achievement. It gives you time to enjoy incredibly beautiful landscapes, soak up the atmosphere of post-apocalyptic America, and escape reality to calm music. Yes, Kojima made a game far from for everyone, but why not give it a chance?

A fantasy action game in which you'll travel through a destroyed kingdom and find traces of a perished civilization. Along the way you'll have to fend off enemies using melee weapons, a bow and arrows, or spells, depending on the chosen class. Enshrouded also has a full-fledged building system. Thanks to your own base, you'll get access to first-class gear.

A third-person action game whose action unfolds during a zombie apocalypse. You can ride around the local locations on a bike. It needs to be upgraded, repaired, and fueled with gasoline. Days Gone is praised for its decent enemy AI, the actors' performances, and the display of huge crowds of monsters. You can fight them both in open combat and silently, using a silenced pistol and a knife.

In May 2024 Ghost of Tsushima was released on PC. It's sometimes called "Assassin's Creed about Medieval Japan." However, Sucker Punch Production's project stands out with its thick atmosphere and excellent combat system. The game's action takes place on the island of Tsushima — a large open world with the ability to freely explore all locations.

The first three installments of Saints Row turned out to be insane GTA clones. The main emphasis in them was on humor and absurd situations. You can expect participating in the filming of an adult movie, riding in a car with a live tiger, flying on futuristic ships, fighting zombies, traveling through virtual worlds, and much more. And in the breaks between these activities you can explore the city, complete optional tasks, or cause mayhem on the streets, as in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is similar in concept to Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Players create their own story and decide what to do in this world.

Launching the game, you, as in real life, can start climbing the career ladder closer to the lords, or ride from city to city without achieving anything. No one will forbid you from gathering your own squad, gaining the trust of the local elite, and overthrowing the king. At the same time, you can spend the whole game wandering through villages and robbing caravans. You're free to do whatever you want. If you don't want to shackle yourself to the writers' imagination but crave to create your own story, Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is definitely worth a try.

Like other installments of the series, Monster Hunter Rise is a simulator of hunting giant creatures in an open world. You'll prepare for battles, select gear and weapons, and develop your own tactics. After that you can set off in search of the next monster.

Hogwarts Legacy is rightly considered the best game in the Harry Potter universe. It's specifically the fans of Joanne Rowling's books and the films based on them who'll appreciate the familiar places and the numerous Easter eggs found in the local open world. For those not yet familiar with the Potter saga, we recommend first watching all the films about Harry. Otherwise the key merits of Hogwarts Legacy will remain incomprehensible to you.

Like Hogwarts Legacy, the recent One Piece Odyssey is aimed at fans of the series. If you've been following the adventures of the Straw Hat and the other pirates for years, you'll definitely like the game. Its action takes place in a large world open for exploration. You'll collect resources, solve puzzles, and fight numerous enemies in turn-based mode.

A sequel to the classic Outcast. Like the original, it's a third-person action game in an open world. You once again play as Cutter Slade, who needs to save a planet from robot invaders. Along the way he'll have to fight wild beasts and other opponents. Besides high-tech weapons, the protagonist of Outcast — A New Beginning can use ancient knowledge based on the power of nature.

A multiplayer shooter with an open world and survival elements. For example, you need to eat and drink in time, as well as engage in building. However, the main emphasis is shifted to battles with ordinary monsters and huge bosses. For this you'll have to search for resources, assemble weapons from blueprints, and modify them. In the open world of Once Human you'll also meet ordinary people who've split into factions. Among them are both hostile groups and potential allies.

The open world of Ghost of Yotei consists of several large locations. You can explore them yourself or buy area maps from a cartographer with points of interest marked. Among them are hot springs, visiting which gives a permanent increase to maximum health, altars offering new skills, and much more. Searching for such places can be combined with completing additional tasks.

The action of this survival game unfolds in the "Dune" universe. You can expect a large open world with many dangers, from sandworms to rivals from other factions. Also don't forget the weather conditions, including scorching heat and Coriolis storms. However, exploring the locations in Dune: Awakening is genuinely interesting, since they change dynamically and even in well-studied places you can find valuable resources.

You can explore the locations of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach both during the main story and after its completion. When the closing credits roll, you'll be able to reduce enemy activity and calmly finish the tasks you didn't manage to complete before the game's finale. True, don't expect Red Dead Redemption 2-level unpredictability in the local open world — it's a big decoration that works for the atmosphere.

Our site has a big review of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach.

As in other installments of the series, in Dying Light: The Beast a small open world with many activities awaits you. To explore it you can rely on parkour skills or use a car. Keep in mind that at night the zombies are much more dangerous than during the day, so it's advisable to choose your routes in advance. We covered these and other nuances in our review of Dying Light: The Beast.

The Outer Worlds 2 consists of many separate territories, each of them a compact open world. They'll open up gradually over the course of the main story and the appearance of special gear. For example, a gas reflector will let you explore territory contaminated with the deadly substance zirantium.

As in many games in our selection, in Monster Hunter Wilds there are several locations, each of them a small open world. There dozens of additional tasks await you, many of them connected to hunting big and small monsters. Besides this, it's worth exploring the territory in search of valuable resources. More about the mechanics in the review of Monster Hunter Wilds.

A great option for those who like battles of sailing ships from the heyday of piracy. In World of Sea Battle you're given the chance to upgrade your ship from a small schooner to a huge frigate, take part in hundreds of naval battles, and, if you manage, acquire your own island and create your own fleet. Of course, this will require money and various materials, which can be found in the large open world or earned by completing numerous tasks.

In the games of the Mafia series, the open worlds are just big decorations with not that many additional activities. However, they let you drive around mid-20th-century American cities in cars of long-gone eras. If you're interested in retro — we recommend checking it out. Mafia 3 turned out unsuccessful, and Mafia 2 came out in 2010. So we decided to settle on Mafia: Definitive Edition — a re-release of the original 2002 game. It's not just a remaster, but a full-fledged remake that feels like a modern project.

Assassin's Creed Shadows is part of the popular Ubisoft series, with the action taking place in feudal Japan. There are two heroes at once: the shinobi Naoe, who bets on stealth, and the mighty samurai Yasuke, who bulldozes enemies in open combat. The large open world lets you freely explore the provinces, complete tasks, and track down targets. It became the fastest-selling game in the series in recent years.

Grand Theft Auto 4 is a Rockstar classic whose action takes place in the grim Liberty City, inspired by New York. The Serbian Niko Bellic comes to his cousin in search of a better life, but quickly gets drawn into the criminal world. The game is remembered for its physics, realistic for its time, and its advanced damage model, as well as the moral choice at key moments of the story. Compared to the colorful later installments, the story here is more grounded and dramatic. Two major expansions were released for the game — The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, telling about the same city from other sides.

Atomfall is an adventure action game with an open world from the British studio Rebellion, released in 2025. The action takes place in the English backwoods after a nuclear catastrophe referencing the real 1957 accident. You'll have to survive, explore the contaminated area, trade with survivors, and uncover the mystery of what happened. The distinctive setting sets the game apart from the usual post-apocalypses.

Horizon Forbidden West is the sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, in which the huntress Aloy heads to the forbidden West to save a dying planet. The open world became noticeably more varied: the flooded ruins of San Francisco, deserts, dense jungles, and, for the first time, underwater locations to explore. Besides new robot-machines and an improved combat system, a glider and a grappling hook appeared, opening up vertical movement. The game is praised for one of the most beautiful pictures of the generation, and dozens of side tasks and personal stories of characters easily stretch the playthrough to a hundred hours.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla is a large-scale installment of the series about the Viking Eivor, settling the lands of 9th-century England. Besides the usual parkour and stealth, here you can go on raids of monasteries together with your warband, and invest the looted resources in developing your own settlement. The player is free to form political alliances, take part in feasts and contests, and at the same time search for members of the hidden order of assassins. The map includes not only England but also native Norway, which makes this one of the largest open worlds in the entire franchise.

Far Cry 6 is a first-person shooter with a large open world on the fictional tropical island of Yara, which is held in an iron grip by the dictator Antón Castillo. Waging a guerrilla war against the regime, you capture checkpoints, liberate territories, and use homemade weapons and vehicles. Besides the main campaign, the island is full of side tasks, caches, and activities in the series' signature style.

An open world feels completely different when it lives and breathes — with thousands of other players. In these MMORPGs and online projects, huge worlds can be explored, leveled up in, and battled in together with friends or against them.

Genshin Impact is a free role-playing game with a huge open world of Teyvat in an anime style. You explore regions with their own elements, culture, and ruling Archons, solve puzzles, find hidden chests, and fight bosses. At the core of the battles are elemental reactions: fire ignites, water freezes, and clever combinations of elements decide the outcome of a fight. Characters can be recruited through a gacha system and assembled into teams to fit your style, and dungeons can be completed solo or in co-op. The game is often called the "Chinese Breath of the Wild" for its freedom of exploration and gameplay with climbing and gliding, and new regions come out with regular major updates.

The Elder Scrolls Online is a role-playing online game set in the The Elder Scrolls universe, whose events take place a thousand years before Skyrim. The continent of Tamriel is open for exploration: you can complete tasks, clear dungeons, and take part in massive PvP battles of three alliances for control over the empire. Unlike many MMOs, the game doesn't require a subscription — you just buy it once, and the storylines here are crafted almost as well as in the single-player installments of the series. Besides battles, there are thefts, buying and furnishing your own houses, and dozens of professions available. Suitable both for solo playthrough and for playing with friends.

Black Desert is a Korean MMORPG from Pearl Abyss with impressive graphics and one of the most dynamic combat systems in the genre, built on combos and dodges. Besides battles, here there are incredibly deep peaceful activities: crafting, trading between cities, fishing, hiring workers, and even setting up a home. The character editor deserves special attention — one of the most detailed on the market. The huge open world can be traveled on foot, on horseback, or by sea on your own ship, and the world itself constantly expands with updates.

World of Warcraft is a legendary MMORPG that became a household name back in 2004. Players can expect the fantasy world of Azeroth, where you'll choose a race and class, level up from a novice to a hero, and take part in epic raids, dungeons, and PvP battles. Over dozens of expansions the world has grown significantly, and the community remains one of the largest in the genre. You can get acquainted for free — the starter version lets you play up to a certain level without a subscription. It still remains one of the most popular and influential online games in the world.

Throne and Liberty is a large-scale MMORPG from the studio NCsoft, released in 2024. The large open world can be explored not only on foot: the character can transform into animals to soar in the sky as a bird or swim underwater. The dynamic change of weather and time of day directly affects battles and available events, and at the core of the gameplay are massive PvP and PvE battles for control over territories.

Final Fantasy 14 is one of the most successful MMORPGs, which grew from a failed launch into an exemplary online project. The huge world of Eorzea, a story worthy of a single-player Final Fantasy, and a friendly community made the game beloved by millions of players.

In these games the environment is extremely hostile. Your goal is not just to explore the territory, but to conquer it. Gathering resources, building protected bases, and the constant struggle against hunger or monsters make every trip beyond the camp a dangerous but exciting expedition. If the open world isn't so important, take a look at our general selection of the best survival games.

A decent survival game whose action unfolds in the era of the Vikings. You'll engage in building your house, raising livestock, cooking food, as well as forging weapons and armor. The ultimate goal is to defeat the bosses in all locations. For this you'll have to explore the open world of Valheim, explore local dungeons, and gather various resources. Keep in mind that the game is difficult. And it's not only about dangerous monsters. For example, a large house can collapse if during construction you made a number of mistakes.

Fans of survival games can take a look at the sequel to The Forest. Its action unfolds in a huge territory teeming with monsters and cannibals. In the local open world you need to search for food and water, set up your dwelling, and prepare weapons for the encounter with aggressive opponents.

A survival game in which you play as a guy the size of a bug. You can build bases from improvised items, search for resources, and carefully study the surrounding world of Smalland: Survive the Wilds. Over time you'll be able to use insects as mounts.

The Planet Crafter offers you to engage in setting up a distant planet. The local open world isn't static, but changes depending on your actions. You can change the surface temperature to make it comfortable for life, saturate the atmosphere with oxygen, and plant green plants. As a result, forests, insects, and even wild animals will appear on the lifeless wastelands. Of course, this requires resources, for which you'll have to go on distant expeditions.

Raft is a co-op survival game whose action unfolds in the middle of a boundless ocean. Starting with a tiny raft and a hook, you fish trash out of the water, expand your floating dwelling, and explore the islands you come across. Gradually, simple survival turns into a full-fledged sea journey with its own story.

Rust is a harsh multiplayer survival game where everything around wants you dead. Starting almost bare-handed, you extract resources, build a fortified base, and defend it from other players. The main feature is brutal PvP and raids: someone else's base can be broken into and looted, so fortifications and traps are vital here. Over time, advanced crafting opens up, all the way to firearms, electricity, and automation. The servers periodically reset, letting everyone start with a clean slate, and random encounters with strangers through voice chat give rise to the most memorable stories. One of the most hardcore and popular projects of the genre.

ARK: Survival Ascended is a re-release of the famous survival game on the Unreal Engine 5, whose main feature is taming dinosaurs. On a huge island you can catch and saddle dozens of species of prehistoric creatures, use them in battle, for transporting cargo, and extracting resources. Besides dinosaurs, base building, crafting high-tech gear all the way to power armor, and forming tribes are available. The game is known for its harsh survival and advanced endgame with bosses, and besides the starting island there are other maps with their own conditions.

Palworld is the much-talked-about survival game in which Pal creatures can be caught, taken into battle, and made to work on farms and factories. The gameplay unexpectedly combines taming monsters in the spirit of Pokemon with crafting, base building, and shootouts using real firearms. Pals not only fight side by side with the player but also automate resource extraction while you explore the world or storm boss towers. Don't forget basic survival either: hunger, cold, and dangerous fauna. After its release in 2024, the game instantly became a hit, gathering millions of players within days.

V Rising is a survival game where you play as an awakened vampire restoring their former might. By day you have to hide from the deadly sun, and by night hunt people and other creatures for blood. Besides battles, you'll build your own castle and explore the open world in search of prey.

Conan Exiles is a brutal survival game set in the Conan the Barbarian universe. In a harsh world of deserts and ancient ruins you need to extract resources, build fortifications, and fight enemies, including giant bosses. The game is known for its cruelty, deep crafting, and the ability to turn the defeated into servants.

Green Hell is a survival game whose action takes place in the tropical forests of the Amazon. Here you'll have to fight not only hunger and predators, but also tropical diseases, wounds, and even your own sanity. A realistic approach to survival sets the game apart from competitors.

Here the emphasis is shifted to atmosphere and storytelling through the environment. In adventure projects, the search for secrets, the solving of spatial puzzles, and the aesthetic enjoyment of exploration come to the fore. This is the ideal choice for those who want to explore the world at their own pace, enjoying the visuals and the story. Look for the full selection of the genre in our top of 120 adventure games.

In what other top could a 2D platformer be placed next to such mastodons as RDR 2 or The Witcher 3? Terraria is a unique game. Looking at gameplay clips, you'll most likely ask: "why does everyone like it so much?". Indeed, "Terraria" looks like the most ordinary third-tier indie, but as soon as you create a character in it and set off to wander the "flat" world, a tangible part of your real life will remain in it.

The depth of the game, both literally and figuratively, could be envied even by major representatives of the RPG genre. We explore the world in search of ever cooler things that improve the hero's stats. Along the way we encounter huge bosses, and at night it's even better to sit in a built house, since it's at this time of day that practically all the game's monsters come out for a "walk." At first you'll have to make your way to the mines, digging through kilometers of earth. After all, as befits hoards and treasures, they're all located under a thick layer of soil. However, at first it's better not to strive for the bottom part of the map, because there a real hell and deadly lava rivers await us.

Outer Wilds is a pleasant adventure whose action takes place in a small open world. Once every 22 minutes the planet perishes, so the playthrough has to be started over. As in the film "Groundhog Day," the hero is forced to relive the same events over and over. However, you accumulate experience, gradually figure out what's happening, and ultimately break the time loop.

Subnautica is an adventure survival game whose action unfolds underwater on an alien planet. After a ship crash, you'll have to explore a huge open ocean full of bizarre creatures and mysteries, extract resources, and build underwater bases. The feeling of exploring unknown depths made the game one of the best in its genre.

Sable is a calm adventure about exploring a desert open world without battles or rush. The heroine named Sable travels on a hovering bike among dunes, abandoned ships, and bizarre structures, undergoing a coming-of-age rite. The stylish graphics in the spirit of European comics and the relaxed pace are the game's main feature.

A Short Hike is a small, cozy adventure about exploring a picturesque island nature reserve. You play as a bird that climbs to the top of a mountain, helping other inhabitants along the way and finding secrets. Despite the modest size of the open world, the game gives a warm feeling of a real vacation.

Minecraft is the most popular sandbox in the world and one of the best-selling games in history. The procedurally generated world of blocks can be endlessly explored, rebuilt, and mastered: from building your first house to journeys into otherworldly dimensions. The size of the world is practically limitless, and complete creative freedom is the main reason for its enormous popularity.

An open world can be cozy and meditative. In these games you create your own corner of comfort: develop a farm, chat with residents, or build entire cities. Freedom here manifests in creativity and the absence of rush, which makes such games an ideal way to relax.

A life sim whose events unfold in a fantasy setting. You'll build your house, decorate it to your taste, and establish relationships with neighbors. The world of Palia is filled with secrets that only someone who carefully studies the surroundings and finds valuable clues can solve. That said, nothing stops you from simply enjoying the cozy atmosphere and taking part in various activities, for example minigames. It's in our top "Best free PC games".

If you like farming, but Farming Simulator has already gotten boring, take a look at Lightyear Frontier. It's a sci-fi game whose action takes place on another planet. Using a high-tech robot, you'll grow bizarre plants, engage in building and crafting, and explore the world.

A first-person adventure game with a focus on building. Alone or with friends, you'll construct entire factories with conveyor belts and large workshops. Of course, such actions in Satisfactory require a lot of resources. To find them, you'll have to explore the open world of one of four planets of your choice.

My Time at Sandrock is a life and building sim with an open world in a post-apocalyptic setting. You play as a builder who sets up a workshop in a desert town: you gather resources, craft mechanisms, make friends, and form relationships. A cozy mix of crafting, farming, and chatting with colorful residents.

Cities: Skylines is the best city-building sim, in which you create and develop your own city from scratch. You need to think through roads, zoning, transport, and utility services, while keeping an eye on the budget and the mood of the citizens. The enormous freedom and support for modifications made the game a benchmark of the genre.

Speed feels different when the track isn't limited by barriers. Racing sandboxes let you turn an entire region into your personal racetrack. Tuning, hundreds of licensed cars, and the ability to race from the coast to snowy mountains without a single loading screen are the main trump cards of this section. If your hardware can't handle the games from the list below, take a look at our TOP-20 racing games for weak PCs and laptops.

A cool open world is characteristic not only of action games and RPGs. Some racing games, for example Forza Horizon 4, can also boast a vivid environment in which you want to live.

Strange as it may seem, the open world of "Forza" feels in many ways similar to Death Stranding. Judge for yourself: the world here is just a backdrop, necessary to drive to the finish line. But in both games this journey gives a huge amount of emotions, albeit different ones. In Forza Horizon there's no place for meditativeness; here you need to floor the pedal and fly toward the horizon at full speed. The obstacles on your path won't be "creatures," but the dynamic change of weather and time of day, which, though they hinder driving, give players the chance to take many incredibly beautiful screenshots.

Even if the racing genre isn't close to you, we advise getting acquainted with the Forza Horizon series at least to see all this beauty with your own eyes. It's just a shame that the game doesn't let you get out of the car.

Forza Horizon 4 is in our top "Best racing games".

Forza Horizon 5 is a racing game with an open world, whose events unfold in picturesque Mexico. Here there are jungles, deserts, an active volcano, and colonial cities, through which you can race on hundreds of licensed cars. All events are united by the Horizon festival, and the races cover a wide variety of disciplines — from street races to rally and off-road. The dynamic change of seasons every week changes the look of the map and the available challenges, keeping interest going for a long time. Rich car customization, party modes, and constant updates make the game one of the most content-generous representatives of the genre.

The Crew Motorfest is an arcade racing game whose action unfolds on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Besides the usual street races, here there are rally, drift, and even races on planes and boats. The game is built around themed playlists, each of which is dedicated to its own driving style. A great option for relaxed cruising solo or with friends.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is a racing game with an open world, transferred to a 1:1 scale recreation of the island of Hong Kong. Besides races, here there are role-playing elements: building reputation, buying real estate, and customizing your character. The game bets on online and the feeling of living in a world of luxury cars.

The Crew 2 is an arcade racing game in which the entire scaled-down map of the USA serves as the open world. You can instantly switch from a sports car to a plane or boat and continue your journey from coast to coast. Freedom of movement and a variety of vehicles are the game's main trump cards.

If you don't count procedurally generated universes like No Man's Sky, then among the leaders by land area, Just Cause 4, Ghost Recon Wildlands, and the classic The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall traditionally remain.

The release of Grand Theft Auto 6 is scheduled for November 19, 2026 — for now only on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. A PC version hasn't been officially announced, but judging by Rockstar's past games, it'll appear later.

If you want another big RPG with a detailed world, take a look at Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Elden Ring, Dragon's Dogma 2, and Cyberpunk 2077. They're all in our top and will give you dozens of hours of exploration.

Of course. Many acclaimed hits, such as Skyrim, Fallout: New Vegas, or the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R., are well optimized and deliver a stable FPS even on old laptops and office builds.

For co-op playthrough, survival games like Valheim, Sons of the Forest, and Raft are great, as well as the Forza Horizon and The Crew racing series. Most of them support co-op for several players.

Open World is freedom of movement across the map without obstacles. Sandbox is the presence of tools for changing the world (crafting, building, destructibility). Most games in our top combine both concepts.

And which open-world games do you consider the best? Share your opinion in the comments!

If you've already completed the games from the list, here are a few more open worlds that didn't make the main top but are definitely worth attention.

Immortals Fenyx Rising is a colorful open-world adventure inspired by Greek mythology and noticeably borrowing from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. You play as the hero Fenyx, who saves the gods of Olympus from the curse of the titan Typhon. The world is filled with puzzles, mythical creatures, and challenges, and the light tone and humor make the game a great option to relax after serious projects.

Watch Dogs: Legion moves the action to the near future of London, which has fallen under the power of an authoritarian regime. The main feature is the ability to recruit almost any resident of the city into the resistance and play as them with their own skills. The open world of the British capital is detailed down to the smallest things: from Big Ben to underground hacker clubs.

State of Decay 2 is an open-world survival game engulfed in a zombie apocalypse, with a focus on community management. You control not a single hero, but a whole group of survivors, each with their own skills and fate, and death here is final. You can play through it in co-op too, jointly setting up bases and clearing territories of the dead.