Summary
- Open-world games can be enhanced with mods, adding new content and increasing replayability.
- The Witcher 3, Minecraft, and Fallout: New Vegas are example games that benefit from mods.
- Modders provide new weapons, quests, and improvements to enrich the gaming experience.
Open-world games offer endless entertainment, allowing players to fully immerse themselves in the characters' environment. While making entire worlds that feel alive is no easy task, when accomplished, it creates magical experiences that elevate a game from good to great. While developers work extremely hard to fill these words with as much content as possible, there is a limit and a line to how much content a studio can stuff inside a sandbox. Eventually, players will conquer all the content in the game and run out of things to do
8 Best Open-World PC Games With Extensive Modding Communities
Open-world games on PC are some of the most popular for modding communities, allowing the players to really tailor their own experience.
Thankfully, many open-world games released recently, especially those that launch on PC, receive added support from the modding community. Modders create incredible original content for their favorite games and share it with players all over the world to enjoy. These mods can range from minor cosmetic additions to massive new areas in the game that increase the replayability and appeal of the original title. Here are some open-world games that get better with mods.
7 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
A Plethora Of Wild Expansions Available
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Released
- May 19, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
The Witcher franchise is one of the most popular fantasy RPGs on the market, which has garnered an enormously dedicated fan base since its initial release. Out of the box, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt provides an incredible experience both narratively and gameplay-wise.
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Players follow the story of Geralt and Ciri as they face some of the most sinister evil forces in the world. However, even the base game, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, has a conclusion. However, thanks to the modding community, thousands of mods have increased the replayability of the game. Players can download unique weapons, armor, and even entire quest lines that expand the lore of the game.
6 Minecraft
Endless Creativity And Resources
Minecraft
- Released
- November 18, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Fantasy Violence
- Genre(s)
- Sandbox, Survival
Minecraft is one of the most popular games in history and is unmatched in the level of freedom that it provides to players. Minecraft drops players into a massive open world where they are allowed to construct anything their hearts desire by harvesting resources and forging them into materials. Players can make grand kingdoms, entire cities, or terraform a continent.
Minecraft is made even more accessible with the help of mods, which are fully supported by the game. Talented creators provide hundreds of thousands of mods that can add more graphically advanced materials, alternate resources, or entirely new maps to the game, all of which can be downloaded directly from the game's in-game menu.
5 Red Dead Redemption 2
Even More Additions To Rockstar's Massive Sandbox
Red Dead Redemption 2
- Released
- October 26, 2018
WHERE TO PLAY
Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2 was a massive undertaking that created an immersive experience of being a lone gunman in the late 1800s, traveling across the ruthless terrain of the United States. Players can enjoy the rich narrative experience and travel anywhere by horse or buggy and take on everything the game has to offer, from gunfights to raids and robberies.
Thankfully, Red Dead Redemption 2 has a rich modding community that constantly provides new content to add to the game, including new weapons, activities such as bank robberies, and new features and character models.
4 Fallout: New Vegas
A Classic With Mods That Completely Overhaul The Game
Fallout: New Vegas
- Released
- October 19, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Among the Fallout series of games, Fallout: New Vegas is a classic and fan-favorite that has maintained a high player base a decade after its initial release. The frigid wasteland of post-apocalyptic Nevada has claimed the lives of thousands who dare to brave the harsh climates, bandit-ridden holds, and ferocious mutants.
While Fallout: New Vegas was an incredible game upon release, the modding community has provided a nearly limitless amount of content, allowing players to play differently with every new playthrough. The available Fallout: New Vegas mods encompass a wide range of content, including full-length story missions, new weapons and armor, original NPCs, and system improvements such as graphics, UI, and more.
3 Cyberpunk 2077
Modders Make Night City Even More Dangerous
Cyberpunk 2077
- Released
- December 10, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
CD Projekt Red created a masterpiece, despite its rocky launch, which they have more than made up for with a series of free and paid updates. Cyberpunk 2077 delivers a living, breathing, and evolving open world where players must navigate a volatile city designed to drain the life from its inhabitants unless they rise to the top of the food chain.
As a game with hundreds of activities, multiple story options, and dozens of collectibles, with the help of mods, Cyberpunk 2077 becomes a different beast altogether. Modders have created a wide range of content, including flying cars, new character creation options, weapons, graphics overhauls, and even companion options.
2 The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
A Vast Open-World That Has Become The Gift That Keeps On Giving
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Released
- November 11, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol
Skyrim is one of the longest-running RPG games in history, having spanned multiple console generations and maintained a sizable player base. The Elder Scrolls franchise is known for its enormous worlds and epic fantasy stories. Skyrim was a renowned success upon release and has seen constant support from Bethesda and the modding community.
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Mods for Skyrim have evolved from simple cosmetics and UI improvements to entire game-level expansions that change the experience on a fundamental level. Players can find a mod for anything from being able to ride dragons to becoming king of all Tamriel.
1 Starfield
A Universe Bursting With Potential
Starfield
- Released
- September 6, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
Starfield is one of the most recent releases from Bethesda, and it sees the company step out of its comfort zone and take to the stars, where endless possibilities await. As a first-person RPG, players can embark on an intergalactic journey and explore numerous worlds across multiple galaxies.
Players begin as cadets on a mission to recover artifacts and can branch off into several paths that the game provides. With over one thousand planets within the game, Starfield modders have begun to run wild and fill in the empty spaces in the game. New ships, structures, cities, features, and cosmetic items for characters and NPCs are all options that exist thanks to Starfield modders.