The 10 Biggest Open World Games of the Last 3 Years
Open-world games continue to evolve, offering players larger and more immersive worlds to explore. Over the past few years, we’ve seen some truly massive game worlds, designed to make you feel like a tiny speck in a vast universe. From the bustling streets of New York to expansive fantasy landscapes, these games offer a variety of experiences, each unique in its scope and scale.
Here’s a look at the 10 biggest open-world games from the last three years, ranked by the sheer size of their game worlds.
10. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (20.8 km²)
Insomniac Games expanded the world of Marvel’s Spider-Man significantly with the 2023 release of Spider-Man 2. The game doubled the size of the original’s map by adding Queens and Brooklyn to the already bustling Manhattan. While the in-game map is around 20.8 km², making it smaller than Manhattan in real life, the web-swinging mechanics make traversing the city a breeze. Despite its compact size compared to real-world New York, the density of detail and the variety of activities make Spider-Man 2 feel much larger than it actually is.
9. Horizon Forbidden West (28.4 km²)
Horizon Forbidden West expands on the world introduced in Horizon Zero Dawn with a vast map that includes both San Francisco and Las Vegas. The game’s primary map is around 22.9 km², but when you add in the Burning Shores expansion, the total landmass reaches 28.4 km². Though the game condenses real-world locations significantly, it compensates with stunning landscapes, dense environments, and the freedom to explore on foot or by robotic mount.
8. Satisfactory (41 km²)
Coming out of Early Access in 2024, Satisfactory is a unique open-world game that focuses on building massive factories. The map, which is a continuous and non-randomized world, covers 41 km². While it’s not a traditional open-world experience like an RPG or action game, the map is designed to accommodate the mind-bogglingly large structures that players create. This vast world provides plenty of room to expand your factory empire and explore its beautiful, industrialized landscapes.
7. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (57 km²)
Building on the world of Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom adds new layers to the familiar map. While Hyrule remains the same size at 28 km², the addition of the underground and sky islands essentially doubles the total map size, bringing it to a whopping 57 km². The underground sections, though sparse, are sprawling, offering new areas to explore and puzzles to solve. The seamless transitions between the surface, sky, and underground make this one of the most impressive open-world maps in recent years.
6. Dragon’s Dogma 2 (77 km²)
Set in a vast fantasy world, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is said to be four times bigger than its predecessor. With an estimated 77 km² map size, it’s a game that forces players to traverse long distances on foot, with limited fast travel options. This emphasis on exploration gives the world a sense of scale that few other fantasy RPGs can match. While not densely packed with cities or dungeons, the sprawling open spaces and challenging terrain make traveling through this world feel like a true adventure.
5. Elden Ring (79 km²)
Elden Ring surprised many with its vast open world. At first, the map seems relatively small, but as you uncover more regions, it quickly becomes clear just how massive the game really is. The surface map covers 79 km², and while there’s an underground component, it’s not as expansive as Tears of the Kingdom. Nonetheless, Elden Ring excels in giving players the freedom to explore every corner of its dark and dangerous world, with breathtaking vistas and countless secrets waiting to be discovered.
4. Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown (80.4 km²)
Racing games require massive maps to accommodate high-speed travel, and Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown delivers with a 1:1 recreation of Hong Kong Island. Covering 80.4 km², the map may not seem as large compared to previous Test Drive titles, but it’s densely packed with a variety of urban environments, rural roads, and off-road trails. While it may not be the biggest map in racing games, the attention to detail in recreating Hong Kong’s diverse environments makes it one of the most interesting.
3. Forza Horizon 5 (107 km²)
Forza Horizon 5 brings players to the diverse landscapes of Mexico, and its map is the largest in the series so far. At 107 km², the world is filled with deserts, jungles, cities, and volcanic mountains, offering a wide range of environments to race through. Though primarily a racing game, Forza Horizon 5 offers one of the most expansive open worlds in any genre, filled with activities, events, and dynamic weather systems that keep the experience fresh and exciting.
2. The Crew Motorfest (200 km²)
While The Crew 2 offered a map that spanned the entire continental United States, The Crew Motorfest focuses on a smaller, more detailed environment: the island of Oahu. Even though Oahu is much smaller than the U.S., its 200 km² map is still vast, especially for a racing game. The map is filled with a variety of landscapes, from dense city streets to open highways and tropical beaches, offering players a wide range of driving experiences.
1. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (255 km²)
At the top of the list is Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, with a map that spans a staggering 255 km². Set in the lush, alien world of Pandora, the game’s map is designed to give players plenty of room to explore the vast forests, floating islands, and alien ecosystems. The game emphasizes aerial travel, allowing players to soar across this massive world. While Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora may not have received as much attention as other open-world games, it stands out for its sheer size and breathtaking vistas.
Bonus: Starfield
Though Starfield isn’t included in the official ranking due to its segmented nature, it deserves a mention. With over 1,400 planets to explore, Starfield offers an almost incomprehensibly large universe. Each planet generates a 2 km² area for players to explore, and while much of it is empty space, the sheer scale is unmatched. If you count the landable planets, Starfield could easily surpass every game on this list in terms of explorable space.
Conclusion
From the bustling streets of New York in Spider-Man 2 to the alien landscapes of Pandora in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, the last three years have given us some of the biggest open-world games ever made. Whether you prefer exploring sprawling cities or venturing into vast, untamed wildernesses, these games offer worlds that feel truly expansive, inviting players to get lost in their boundless environments.
