Summary
Open-world games tend to be very popular. Players love exploring vast areas and discovering all of the references and Easter Eggs therein. The bigger the world, the more there is to explore.Bethesdais very well-known for creatinglarge open worlds that give players lots offreedom to explore.FromSkyrimtoStarfield, most of Bethesda’s largest titles give players access tohuge maps.
As of today, the title of largest map/world in gaming goes toNo Man’s Sky. That said, Bethesda has released some pretty large games over the years. This list will go overBethesda’s biggest mapsand rank them in order of size.
Keep in mind that the map sizes are estimates. There are lots of conflicting sources around the exact sizes.
Unfortunately, there are many conflicting sources regarding the overall size ofFallout 3’smap. One thing that is for sure is that the map inFallout 3is smaller than the map inFallout 76.
Fallout 3’s map depicts a post-nuclear Washington.However, the locals refer to the area as the Capital Wasteland. The map is large enough to keep players engaged for a long time. In fact, it may take more than a couple of playthroughs to discover all that the Capital Wasteland has to offer.
Fallout 4was a major success for Bethesda. Despite being released in 2015, many players continue to play it today. From its storyline to the many side characters that the player meets along the way, there’s a lot to love about this now iconic post-apocalyptic game.
The events inFallout 4take place in The Commonwealth, formerly known as Boston, Massachusetts.Not only is the map quite large, butit’s full of secrets, unmarked locations, and more that help to keep players engaged. It’s very easy to get sidetracked while attempting to complete the main storyline due to how much there is to explore.
Skyrimis by far the most popular game within theElder Scrollsseries. Players can explore a large region within Tamriel. The whole map is filled with dragons, bandits, and a host of other foes that the Dragonborn will need to take down.
Released in 2011, more than 60 million copies of the game have been purchased, making it one of the best-selling video games of all time. While players can fast travel after visiting a region, they will still need tofind their way around largely on footor horseback. From Whiterun to the Throat of the World, there are plenty of places that the player will explore during a playthrough.
Upon its release,The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivionwas received positively for its graphics, storylines, and expansive map. Thanks to its recent remaster, the game has been given a new lease on life. Players who were too young to appreciate this game at the time of its initial release can now enjoyOblivionin much more detail with this new release.
The map’s overall size is estimated to be around 16 mi²,making it about the same size as the map inFallout 76.While the main storyline can be completed in around 25–30 hours, all of the additional content in the game can take that number towell over 100 hours for a playthrough.
Fallout 76is one of Bethesda’s more controversial titles. Upon its release, it was missing a lot of core features, including NPCs and narrative quests. That said, while it was rather empty during the early days, it has grown to become a highly populated world with plenty to see and do.
Each of the map’s regions has its own set of unique challenges to overcome.Also, thanks to regular updates, the map just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Not only that, but players can also venture outside of the main map and explore various other areas, such as The Pitt andAtlantic City.
The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfallis largely randomized, meaning that the majority of the map is procedurally generated. Thanks to this type of world creation,Bethesda was able to make a truly enormous map.It is the second-largest game from Bethesda in terms of overall map size, and exploring all of the areas found within is an almost impossible task.
Since most of it is procedurally generated, there are lots of huge areas that are pretty barren. However, there are still plenty of places to explore, quests to find, enemies to battle, and secrets to uncover.
Starfieldis by far the largest Bethesda game in terms of map size.Players canexplore over 1,000 planetsas they travel through space.While the game didn’t get off to the best start, over the past couple of years, it has received some pretty large updates that have helped to turn the game into a more immersive experience.
This open-ended map gives players almost unlimited possibilities when it comes to exploration. For those wanting to focus on the game’s main objectives,Starfieldcan be completed in around 24 hours. But for those who enjoy exploring, this game is very open-ended and can easily fill 100 hours' worth of playtime.
