Former GTA VI developer shares his thoughts on huge bloated open worlds in modern games
At the recent Game Developers Conference (GDC), Cameron Williams, a former Rockstar Games developer and now an employee of Absurd Ventures, spoke about the challenges faced by open worlds in video games. Previously, he worked on Grand Theft Auto 6 and Red Dead Online and drew attention to the key problem of modern games - excessive scale that discourages players from exploring the world.
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Williams explained that huge open worlds with an overabundance of content lead to choice paralysis, when players simply do not know what to do. He emphasised that the expansion of game spaces makes exploration meaningless - travelling long distances becomes more of a burden than an interesting task.
In the panel discussion covered by PC Gamer, Williams noted that many players simply do not want to spend time on chaotic exploration, especially in the era of game services and free-to-play projects that are taking more and more attention. According to him, some players only want a linear storyline without unnecessary distractions.
His opinion is confirmed by games that suffer from open-world fatigue syndrome. For example, in Assassin's Creed Shadows, despite the high-quality design, players are often forced to use fast travel due to too long distances between tasks. Williams believes that developers should find a balance by creating worlds that remain immersive rather than exhausting for players.
Source: Insider Gaming
