Dictionary

open world en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌəʊp(ə)n ˈwɜːld/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˌoʊp(ə)n ˈwɜɹld/ (General-American)
• (US) audio

Etymology

From open (adjective) + world.

Meanings

1. (also, attributive) A gameworld that the player may traverse freely, rather than being restricted to certain predefined areas and quests.
   • Role-play games […] they use a closed visual world of walls or grids or open worlds across computer systems 2004, Paul Grover, “Computer Games in Your Hands”, in Visual Texts (The Heinemann English Project), Port Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic.: Heinemann Harcourt Education, →ISBN, page 15:
   • Liberty City, the virtual space of Grand Theft Auto III, can be interpreted as the spatial universe that qualitatively changes and combines the limited character attributes of the inhabiting non-player characters. Because they all seem to live and act in such a huge open world, they appear to be more complex themselves. 2008, Michael Nitsche, “Combining Interaction and Narrative”, in Video Game Spaces: Image, Play, and Structure in 3D Worlds, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, →ISBN, part I (Structure), page 54:
   • The Saints Row games are open worlds, and many consider the Grand Theft Auto series to also be open worlds. 2014, Carolyn Handler Miller, “Video Games”, in Digital Storytelling: A Creator’s Guide to Interactive Entertainment, 3rd edition, Burlington, Mass.; Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Focal Press, →ISBN, part 4 (Media and Models: Under the Hood), page 283:
   • The second category of storytelling that coexists in GTA [Grand Theft Auto]’s open world takes the form of player-driven stories. 2017, Chris Solarski, “Transitions in Open-world Games”, in Interactive Stories and Video Game Art: A Storytelling Framework for Game Design (An A K Peters Book), Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, →ISBN, section II (The Dramatic Curve and Transitions), page 170:
   • What Guy doesn’t know, but the audience surely will (it's all over the trailers), is that he's not a real person at all but rather an NPC—or non-player character—in a popular and extremely violent open-world video game. 2021 August 6, A. A. Dowd, “The Ryan Reynolds Action-comedy Free Guy is a Truman Show for the Fortnite Age”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 19 Apr 2023:
   • Open world games (sometimes referred to as "sandbox games") are one of the most popular genres of video games. They typically feature non-linear gameplay, the ability to roam the game world freely any way the player chooses, unscripted interaction with non-player characters (NPCs), and a living, breathing city, countryside, or fantasy environment to explore. 2007, David Hutchinson, “Kid-friendly Grand Theft Auto”, in Playing to Learn: Video Games in the Classroom, Westport, Conn.: Teachers Ideas Press, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 110:

Forms

Relateds

fast travel · hub world · sandbox game · overworld

Translations (29)

ms dunia terbuka (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · ca món obert (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · vi thế giới mở (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · da åben verden (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · hi खुली दुनिया (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · cmn 開放世界 /开放世界 (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · fi avoin pelimaailma (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · pt mundo aberto (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · nb åpen verden (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · az açıq dünya (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · pl piaskownica (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · fr monde ouvert (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · hy բաց աշխարհ (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · tr açık dünya (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · lt atviras pasáulis (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · uk відкри́тий світ (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · ko 오픈 월드 (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · sv öppen värld (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · mk о́творен свет (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · ar عالم مفتوح (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · ka ღია სამყარო (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · id dunia terbuka (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · fa جهان باز (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · ta திறந்தவுலகம் (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · it mondo aperto (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · ja オープンワールド (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · pl otwarty świat (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · es mundo abierto (gameworld that the player may traverse freely) · ru откры́тый мир (gameworld that the player may traverse freely)