4 Best Open World Games That Aren’t Made by Rockstar

Open-world games have been around since 1970, and they’ve come a long way since then. There are tons of excellent titles in the genre, including Morrowind and many others. One company that consistently excels in this area is Rockstar Games, the developer of the Grand Theft Auto franchise. It’s also home to the Red Dead Redemption franchise alongside L.A. Noire, Bully, Max Payne, and others. Instead of focusing on what Rockstar has to offer, the emphasis here is on games from different studios. We’ve selected one of each from the top-selling franchises in open-world gaming, but stuck to campaign-driven titles, which is why Minecraft isn’t among them.

1) Elden Ring

Elden Ring was released in 2022, and it quickly became a massive success. George R.R. Martin co-wrote the game, and it features some impressive worldbuilding that you’d expect from the legendary author. Players take control of a customizable character and must repair the Elden Ring to become the new Elden Lord of the Lands Between. The third-person perspective gameplay reveals a stunning and expansive world filled with threats, hidden dungeons, and more. Elden Ring won Game of the Year and is among the best games ever made, having sold over 30 million copies. It also features several DLC, including Elden Ring Nightreign, which adds new bosses and playable characters.

2) Fallout: New Vegas

The Fallout franchise has included some of the best open-world role-playing games ever made, and most fans agree that Fallout: New Vegas is the best of them all. Bethesda Softworks has helped the franchise, producing stellar content, and New Vegas is often at the top of the list. The game is set around the ruins of Las Vegas, 204 years after the nuclear war. The player takes on the role of a courier who survives an assassination attempt and finds themselves embroiled in widespread regional conflicts as revenge remains paramount in their mind. New Vegas is highly regarded as one of the best RPGs ever made, and players continue to return to it more than 15 years after its release.

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3) The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

There have been several impressive games in The Witcher franchise, but for most fans, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the best of them all. The game is highly detailed and features rich worldbuilding and lore from the novels. It’s like you’re living as Geralt of Rivia, hunting monsters and solving a massive quest that expands the franchise significantly. The game’s enormous open-world map is filled with terrors, beauty, and enough side-quests to keep you busy for days on end. Wild Hunt became one of the best-selling games of all time, having sold more than 60 million units. A sequel, The Witcher IV, is likely arriving sometime in or after 2027, so there’s more than enough time to explore this game before getting lost in the next.

4) The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

There’s no denying that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was one of the most important games in the franchise. It revitalized The Legend of Zelda games for a whole new generation, opening them up to one of the most expansive and gorgeous open worlds in all of gaming. The sequel, Tears of the Kingdom, picks up where its predecessor left off and expands everything to 11. The game is set in the same world, but it has been expanded into massive above-ground and below-ground areas, effectively tripling the size while incorporating new mechanics to make these areas playable. Tears of the Kingdom is essentially Breath of the Wild 2.0, as it’s only made the franchise better, and it’s an easy contender for the greatest game ever made.

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