Game Designer Highlights Player Enjoyment Over Completion, Says Skyrim is the Perfect Example

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Josh Sawyer, renowned for overseeing ‘Fallout: New Vegas’ and ‘Pillars of Eternity’, recently voiced his perspective on game completion. According to him, it doesn’t matter if a player finishes a game; instead, the pleasure derived from playing is paramount. Using ‘Skyrim‘ as an illustration, he pointed out that numerous players often skip the main storyline.

In a video on his YouTube channel, Sawyer talked about certain gamers consistently re-starting ‘Skyrim’ without advancing significantly in the main storyline. Instead, they spend their time exploring the game world, possibly only discovering a small portion of the map, yet they still have an enjoyable experience. This implies that not completing a game doesn’t necessarily mean that players didn’t enjoy it.

Speaking about his past gaming adventures, Sawyer shared an interesting fact – as a kid, instead of rushing to finish games, he often chose to extend the fun by straying from the usual paths. He’d spend countless hours delving into unexplored areas, finding joy in the journey rather than necessarily reaching the end goal.

Sawyer discussed the growing tendency for game sizes to expand. However, in his opinion, players generally aren’t keen on games much bigger than ‘Skyrim’ or ‘The Witcher 3’. What he underscores is the significance of creating an enjoyable gaming experience that avoids feeling tedious or repetitive.

Essentially, Sawyer’s viewpoint questions the need to finish a game in order to find pleasure in it. He emphasizes that what truly matters is the player’s contentment and the creation of significant experiences, even if the primary goals of the game aren’t met.

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2025-01-16 01:43