The relevance of massive open-world games is increasingly becoming a topic of debate. Game designer Josh Sawyer, known for Fallout: New Vegas and Pentiment, recently criticized developers who sacrifice a project’s uniqueness in their quest for scale.
We don't need to get bigger. Just stop. I don't think most players want games that are like six times bigger than Skyrim or eight times bigger than The Witcher 3.
Games got bigger and bigger, and it became more and more impressive, and then at a certain point, one, supporting that volume of stuff, there's a quality dip – we're not employing eight times the number of contractors. You know, area designers and artists. And so, things start to feel less unique and bespoke.
However, Sawyer clarified that he’s not against all open-world games. "As long as the player feels like when they come out in the world that they have a big vast space to explore and that that is a fun experience and it doesn't feel repetitive and like a grind, I think that's good. I don't mind making big games like that," Sawyer claimed.
Sawyer’s comments echo similar concerns voiced by industry veterans like former PlayStation head Shawn Layden and ex-Bethesda developer Will Shen. Both have argued that players are growing weary of bloated titles, and developers should focus on creating smaller, more focused experiences.