‘Fallout 4’s’ Todd Howard Talks Open World Video Games As A ‘Commonplace’ — Accolades Given To Ubisoft

Fallout 4 director Todd Howard gave his take on open world video games, as they are becoming much more common than the used to be. He even gave accolades to Ubisoft’s line of games, which is what they have been known for, according to GameSpot.

“I think it’s starting to become commonplace. It’s not as unique, so you’re seeing it a lot. People are discovering that particular way of playing a game is what is really great about video games.”

Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s The Division is thought to be in the likelihood of becoming 2016 Game of the Year, according to Bidness Etc, and it goes to show that the video game industry is entering a dimension of sorts for deeper immersion and further player engagement. That being said, video game companies like Ubisoft are jumping on the bandwagon to open world games, causing it to be a “commonplace” according to Bethesda’s director Mr. Howard.

Fallout 4 director says open world games are becoming "commonplace." https://t.co/NWzoK4JaDW pic.twitter.com/xKblYUd5Rr

— GameSpot (@GameSpot) February 22, 2016

One of the open world games, Witcher 3: Wild Hunt won game of the year last year, according to GameSpot and although Fallout 4 didn’t win, it was one of the most highly popular video games, regardless, with DLC on its way starting March 1.

However, Bethesda’s Todd Howard did win the lifetime achievement award at the March’s Game Developers Choice Awards. He’s also known for the Elder Scrolls franchise, and most notably Skyrim.

In the open world wasteland, one can even wander off the main mission to accomplish side quests because just like a lot of games one doesn’t have to stick into a linear path to accomplish a goal, but they even reserve the right to get distracted.

Fallout 4’s Todd Howard did give Ubisoft accolades when it came to their own brand of games and their contributions. Although he didn’t mention them by name, GameSpot did cite examples of “Watch Dogs, The Crew, Far Cry 4, and The Division.”

“Ubisoft does a great job; they do a lot of it.”

Ubisoft’s video game, Watch Dogs, is said to have quite a stunning similarity to The Division, with the only main exception being the locale of Chicago versus New York City’s Manhattan, wherein there lies the Dark Zone, an open world component.

Bethesda Games’ Todd Howard ascribed a revelation these current and upcoming environments to scale beyond books and movies via the enjoyable and immersive experience of these video games, according to GameSpot.

“Gaming can put you in a place; it can pull off geography. Movies and books, they can’t in that way.”

Is Fallout 4 director Howard implying that this type of experience trumps the theater of the mind in a sense? He also mentions that other video game companies will likely have a nice foothold when it comes to the open world format, and seemed to be more so in tuned to their “tech footing.”

Todd Howard, age 44, was mentioned in a report by GameSpot that Game Developers Conference speaker Meggan Scavio touted him the Bethesda Games director to be a ” ‘visionary developer’ who helped push the industry forward with 3D open worlds specifically.”

Over 6 million players played in The Division Open Beta! Retweet if you were one of the millions. #TheDivision pic.twitter.com/KQcAEVGYhu

— The Clancy Report (@TC_Report) February 22, 2016

With open world game companies like Ubisoft, Bethesda, and other companies putting out products like Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Tom Clancy’s The Division, and other open world genres, there does seem to be the wave of the future when it comes to video game engagement with some even developing social communities in the process. So what’s next as 2016 is ushered into this kind of video game genre?

[Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images]