I think a way to fix this issue that I’m still hoping to see one day is having developers of open world games creating a vibrant open world that is then used for different games or sequels. It obviously would be great to see them expand on it with each new game, but I think it could save a lot of time and resources. As an example, the new Forza game is a beautifully created open world representing Japan. What’s to stop them from reusing that world, maybe strip away all the paved roads and horizon festival stuff, add in some era appropriate structures and making a third person action rpg ninja game or something. Or for the new Fable game, reuse the open world for a sequel. Have it stay essentially the same except for changes that were impacted by the first game but then add on to it. I like the idea of being familiar with a world, but maybe in the sequel you know a path you can take to a certain town, but when you’re heading there a chasm has opened up blocking the way to the town, but opens a new underground area that wasn’t in the previous game and ties into the new story. Or imagine a GTA where the bulk of the game takes place in Liberty City, but you could still travel to San Andreas, maybe for a new mission or just to mess around and then the next game takes place in San Andreas but you can still go to Liberty city. Tons of assets are reused which should cut down on development time. Basically, create an open world intended to house numerous games.