Open world game design is often critiqued for being too controlling, constrained, guided. We do see a shift from this philosophy towards more self directed experiences, whether Breath of the Wild or Elden Ring. However, what if this duality between freedom and control speaks to something deeper , an ideology of networked control that transcends the game itself.

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-Mourdjen Bari - Sam Kirk

Sources

Open World Empire: Race, Erotics, and the Global Rise of Video Games , Christopher B Patterson

The Freedom Fallacy , GDC Scott Rigby ,    • The Freedom Fallacy: Understanding "P...  

Meaningful Choice in Game Level Design , Matthias Worch GDC    • Meaningful Choice in Game Level Design  

Fallout GDC Postmortem , Timothy Cain    • Classic Game Postmortem: Fallout  

-Games of Empire: Global Capitalism and Video Games , Greig de Peuter and Nick Dyer-Witheford

The Military-Entertainment Complex , Tim Lenoir , Luke Caldwell

Mafia 3 GDC talk , William Harms    • Creating the Characters and World of ...  

On Video Games , Soraya Murray

Additional footage
MGS5 Konami    • E3 2015 GAME PLAY DEMO | METAL GEAR S...