What's an Immersive Sim? The Popular Game Genre, Explained

What Does “Immersive Sim” Mean?

Theimmersive simgenre is almost the exact opposite of another genre you might know of: themetroidvaniagenre.

But unlike the metroidvania genre—which uses the names ofMetroidandCastlevaniato give you a sense of what the genre represents—the immersive sim genre doesn’t really tell you much. In fact, it’s easy to misunderstand. (If you’re thinkingThe Sims, you’re way off track!)

Immersive sims aren’t simulation games in the traditional sense, so there’s no actual simulation of life-like activities. You won’t be city planning (like inSim City) and you won’t be in the shoes of a very specific occupation worker (likePowerWash Simulator).

Rather, immersive sims emphasize player choice and game world immersion through a variety of different mechanics.

This means deliberately pulling away from overly “gamey” elements in favor of presenting a game world that feels like an actual world. Think away fromCall of Duty-style scripted events and more towards open-world gameplay mechanics and systems.

Of course, every immersive sim game varies in how they approach this, but as a broad overview of the genre, that’s what you can expect.

The Earliest Immersive Sims

Still not entirely sure what an immersive sim is? There’s no better example than the classic game that sparked the genre:Deus Ex.

While a handful of immersive sims existed beforeDeus Ex, they didn’t market themselves as such. Game designer Warren Spector first used the term when describingDeus Ex’sdevelopment (while crediting the actual coining of the term to colleague Doug Church).

Earlier immersive sims were a massive influence on Spector and his team at Looking Glass Studios. These games includeUltima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss(widely considered to be the first immersive sim) as well as follow-ups likeArx Fatalis.

Looking Glass Studios developed several games that are now seen as the earliest immersive sims, includingSystem ShockandSystem Shock 2as well asThiefandThief 2.

Most of Looking Glass Studios' immersive sims rely heavily on stealth elements and gameplay, but that doesn’t mean all immersive sims need stealth elements. The genre itself has evolved over the years.

Related:Why is roguelike gameplay invading every game genre?

Modern Immersive Sims, Defined

I think one of the easiest ways to describe today’s immersive sims in a nutshell is “an RPG but not an RPG.”

Immersive sims aim to provide the same level of game world immersion that you’d find in an RPG, and you’re often looting gear and acquiring new skills, but you’re not “leveling up” your character.

Sometimes, a game we typically think of as an RPG can also pull double duty as an immersive sim. For example,Vampire: the Masquerade: Bloodlineswinds up on many “best RPGs of all time” lists while also showing up on “best immersive sims” lists.

Leaning more toward the RPG side are theElder Scrollsgames, includingOblivionandSkyrim. While these have plenty of RPG systems, they’ve certainly absorbed elements of immersive sims as well, which is likely why both of those games are so wildly popular.

And while immersive sims tend to be bloated with dozens of different game systems, there are slim immersive sims, too. For example, theBioshockgames are immersive sims, but they feel more like straight shooters than anything in theDeus Exseries.

The Best Modern Immersive Sims

Some of the original immersive sims are still living through direct sequels or spiritual successors. For example, the last two entries in theDeus Exseries—2011’sDeus Ex: Human Revolutionand 2016’sDeus Ex: Mankind Divided—were fairly well received.

But if there’s one game studio that’s singlehandedly holding the torch for immersive sims, it’s developer Arkane Studios.

This is the same studio that gave us theDishonoredseries as well as 2017’sPrey, which somehow took the license for a mediocre sci-fi shooter and gave us an incredible sci-fi immersive sim.

In recent years, immersive sims have been playing with other genres and incorporating new concepts.

Arkane’s recentDeathloopadds time loop mechanics while the company’s upcomingRedfalllooks to marry the immersive sim genre with four-player cooperative mechanics.

And it’s not always about the big studios. WolfEye Studios (run by two former Arkane developers) releasedWeird Westearlier this year, which takes the immersive sim from its typical first-person perspective and brings it into a top-down view.

Weird Westis a smaller game compared to most immersive sims, but it’s every bit as engrossing as bigger-budget immersive sims.

In the years to come, we’ll likely see more and more game genres start embracing immersive sim mechanics, just like how most video games now incorporate RPG mechanics to some degree. And for us, that only means one thing: it’s a good time to be a gamer.

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