The popularity of the open-world genre is undeniable, with plenty of the best-selling video games of all time belonging to this category. Some studios all but made a name for themselves through open-world titles alone, constantly pushing boundaries and discovering new ways to improve the core formula year after year, while encouraging competitors to follow in their footsteps and adopt their strongest innovations.
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Today, the focus is not just on the best-selling open-world games of all time, but rather on the developer studios responsible for them. This angle helps highlight the devs with the most expertise in the genre, whose multiple titles have become staples among open-world games, setting trends, attracting players for long years after release, and proving that their success is well-deserved.
Mojang Studios
Minecraft – Over 350 Million Copies Sold
Mojang Studios and Minecraft are all but an anomaly in the gaming industry, currently occupying the number one spot among the best-selling games of all time, regardless of genre. To put that into perspective, Minecraft alone sold as many copies as four of the best-selling Rockstar open-world titles combined. It’s hard to even imagine anything topping Minecraft at this point, not even GTA 6.
Of course, after this major success, Mojang Studios doesn’t need to do anything other than keep improving or altering the already winning and beloved formula. In recent years, the studio kept creating spin-off projects like Minecraft Dungeons or Minecraft Legends, each of them still tied to its unmatched open-world sandbox colossus.
Rockstar Games
GTA 5 – 220 Million, RDR 2 – 79 Million, GTA: SA – 30 Million, GTA 4 – 25 Million
There are anomalies, and then there are truly legendary developers. Most players would easily name Rockstar Games as the first that comes to mind, and it’s impossible to argue. The studio that all but pioneered the open-world genre as we know it with Grand Theft Auto 3 is known for the most influential and most impressive open-world games, consistently delivering titles that are light-years ahead of the competition.
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From earlier GTA: San Andreas and GTA 4 to modern titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 and, of course, GTA 5, which continues to shatter records after more than a decade, Rockstar Games is among the rare modern studios that never miss. It’s evident through the colossal hype surrounding the upcoming GTA 6, and there’s little doubt that the final result will blow players away like nothing else before.
CD Projekt Red
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – 60 Million, Cyberpunk 2077 – 35 Million
CD Projekt Red’s story is truly fascinating, as the studio has risen to the top with just two open-world titles. Not only that, CDPR has all but become synonymous with open-world story-driven RPGs like no other, outshining even Bethesda. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was a tremendous success, but Cyberpunk 2077 was arguably even more important, embodying the textbook journey through hardships to the stars.
With all that experience and lessons (hopefully) learnt, CD Projekt Red is now in a very unique position, working on several high-profile projects at once, including The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk sequel – each standing among the most anticipated upcoming open-world games. Time will tell whether the studio’s rise will continue, but its ambitious plans are nothing but admirable so far.
Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 35 Million, Tears of the Kingdom – 20 Million
Nintendo EPD (Entertainment Planning & Development Division) all but struck gold with 2017’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, marking the boldest and most successful Zelda era yet. Breath of the Wild garnered massive sales, which is even more impressive given that the game is the only one on this list available on Nintendo’s gaming ecosystem alone (Wii U, Switch, and Switch 2). Not to mention how rarely Nintendo offers its games with generous discounts.
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The studio didn’t stop there, though. The sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, only strengthened the winning direction, proving it wasn’t just a one-timer. While TOTK sales are still notably below those of BOTW, the six-year gap between games more than explains this, and it will be interesting to see whether it ever reaches the same figures.
Avalanche Software
Hogwarts Legacy – Over 34 Million Copies Sold
Avalanche Software is probably the least deserving studio among these, given that the grand success of Hogwarts Legacy is largely owed to the source material. Of course, it doesn’t mean that Hogwarts Legacy is bad – it is just a pretty standard, harmless open-world game that lacks some true magic to really stand out from the crowd and truly hook anyone who isn’t already a die-hard Harry Potter fan.
Hogwarts Legacy is an open-world game at its safest. While it doesn’t necessarily innovate, but rather follows every other big trend of the past few years, its admirable execution, coupled with a passionate goal to bring the most recognizable elements of the Harry Potter franchise to life in a faithful way, is seemingly more than enough for many players.
Bethesda Game Studios
Skyrim – 30+ Million, Fallout 4 – 25 Million, Fallout 76 – 20 Million
Bethesda Game Studios needs little introduction, for decades standing at the helm of some of the most influential and popular open-world RPGs. What’s even more impressive is how faithful Bethesda stays to its own open-world formula, valuing freedom of exploration above all else, and allowing players to approach these worlds as they see fit.
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Skyrim alone has cemented Bethesda’s legacy forever, officially selling over 30 million copies to date (it’s safe to assume that the real figure is even higher than this). But it’s not just Skyrim: almost every Bethesda game has become a hit, from Oblivion and Fallout 3 to newer Fallout 4 and Fallout 76. Even though the studio’s latest original RPG, Starfield, proved pretty divisive among fans, the game has also attracted over 15 million players in its first year alone. Now, all eyes are on The Elder Scrolls 6 to capture lightning in a bottle once again.
FromSoftware
Elden Ring – Over 30 Million Copies Sold
FromSoftware is still relatively new to true open-world games, with Elden Ring marking the long-awaited debut, and what a success it turned out to be. Marrying the signature soulslike combat formula and RPG elements with a seamless world where players are free to go almost anywhere was expected to make a notable splash, but few expected just how colossal Elden Ring’s success would be.
With Elden Ring, FromSoftware has instantly become one of the most recognizable, almost sacred developers, whose every new game is seen as a must-play, as already proved by The Duskbloods hype. Now, it is up to the studio to show there is a lot more to it than Elden Ring and its spin-offs, so hopefully, its next big projects will also deliver.
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