Summary
- Star Wars Outlaws blends seamless transitions without traditional load screens, enhancing the open-world experience.
- Elite Dangerous offers a jaw-dropping outer space adventure with minimal hidden load screens during hyperspace travel.
- Red Dead Redemption 2 impressively covers vast terrains with no traditional load screens, a masterpiece of open-world gaming.
First, let’s get this caveat out of the way: zero loading screens is pretty much impossible. Players will always encounter them when respawning, fast traveling, or just booting up the game. So naturally, some of the games on this list have brief loading screens. But outside of those instances, they offer a largely uninterrupted experience.
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Yes, hidden loading screens are a thing, but we won’t dwell on the most egregious examples. This is a list of open-world games players can seamlessly jump into and explore.
But before we begin, let’s have a moment of silence for the open-world games that couldn’t make the list: Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Hogwarts Legacy, The Witcher 3, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. While these games boast minimal loading screens, they still slip up whenever players enter shrines or travel back and forth between areas. Rules are rules!
8
Star Wars Outlaws
Hidden Load Screens Are Rare But Forgiven
Open-World
Action-Adventure
- Released
-
August 30, 2024
- ESRB
-
T For Teen // Violence, Simulated Gambling, Mild Language
Billed as the first-ever open-world Star Wars game (much to the dismay of Galaxies fans), Star Wars Outlaws is the very definition of a 7/10 game. It’s a fun ride that leaves neither lasting impressions nor regrets.
One of its standout features, however, is its near-absence of load screens. Sure, there are hidden ones, but they’re so seamlessly integrated that it’s hard to complain. These sneaky transitions only serve to enable smooth planetary flying between the game’s open-world areas, a concession most spacefaring adventurers are happy to make.
7
Elite Dangerous
Cross The Milky Way With No Interruptions
- Released
-
December 16, 2014
- ESRB
-
T For Teen due to Drug Reference, Fantasy Violence
When it comes to open worlds, Elite Dangerous takes the cake—and then some. It’s a 1:1 representation of the entire Milky Way galaxy. It’s truly a sight to behold. What makes it even more jaw-dropping is the absence of traditional load screens.
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Sure, there are hidden load screens during hyperspace travel, but they’re pulled off so seamlessly that players barely notice. Pilots watch the star they’re approaching, take in the cockpit details, or even sit back and twiddle their thumbs. Regardless of what players do, hyperspace travel remains a mesmerizing experience that never gets old.
6
Saints Row 2
A GTA Clone That Also Borrowed Its Approach To Cut Scenes
Open-World
Third-Person Shooter
- Released
-
October 14, 2008
- ESRB
-
M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs
A surprising entry on this list is Saints Row 2. This off-color sequel shrugged off pace-killing load screens so seamlessly that most players didn’t even notice their absence. But, as Futurama so wisely puts it: “When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.”
4:22
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Arguably the peak of the franchise, Saints Row 2 fully embraced the ridiculousness that set it apart from GTA. It was about as crass as things could possibly get for a 2008 game — a year that cursed cinemas with the likes of Meet the Spartans and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.
5
Cyberpunk 2077
Not A Loading Screen in Sight in Night City
- Released
-
December 10, 2020
- ESRB
-
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
After clawing back its tattered reputation following a rocky launch, CD Projekt Red managed to transform Cyberpunk 2077 into a pretty damn respectable game. Once players were finally given a fully functioning experience, praise flowed in.
2:48
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One of the game’s biggest accolades is its stunning open world. With a mix of dusty deserts and sprawling sci-fi cityscapes, Night City offers seamless exploration without a load screen in sight. That’s a remarkable feat, especially considering the jaw-dropping visuals, meticulously detailed interiors, and streets teeming with NPCs.
4
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
One of the First Open-Worlds To Do It
- Released
-
October 26, 2004
- ESRB
-
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs
The granddaddy of no loading screens (aside from its iconic starting screens), Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is as iconic as it gets. Previous entries in the franchise featured splash screens when moving between regions, but San Andreas waved goodbye to that era.
4:37
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From CJ’s iconic BMX ride at the beginning to the game’s climactic finale, players rarely encounter loading screens. The game pulls some clever tricks to achieve this, dynamically loading environments as players traverse the sprawling map. The closest thing to a break is the brief fade to black when entering buildings — a small price to pay for seamless exploration.
3
Grand Theft Auto 5
Explore the Paradise of San Andreas Without a Single Break
- Released
-
September 17, 2013
- ESRB
-
M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Mature Humor, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
Grand Theft Auto V is still impressive well over a decade past its launch. For a game that originally graced the PS3 and Xbox 360, it’s dumbfounding how Rockstar managed to pull it off. But they did — and the result is a technical marvel worthy of praise.
Zooming across San Andreas in a fighter jet or speeding through Los Santos in a supercar wouldn’t hit the same if players were constantly greeted by static load screens filled with tips and character models. But for those masochistic enough to crave loading screens, there’s always GTA Online.
2
Red Dead Redemption 2
A True Masterpiece Without Time-Outs
- Released
-
October 26, 2018
- ESRB
-
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
The scope of Red Dead Redemption 2 is truly awe-inspiring. Spanning five fictitious U.S. states, traveling across its vast terrain reportedly takes around 3 hours and 14 minutes. And with that much ground to cover, players never encounter a single load screen.
This is an astounding achievement for a game with such painstaking attention to detail. No wonder Rockstar poured over eight years into crafting this masterpiece. Sure, a few savvy players might point out one of the game’s rare loading screens, but we’ll ignore it to avoid spoilers—and because this title more than earns its place on the list.
1
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Swing From One End of the Map to the Other Instantaneously
Open-World
Action-Adventure
Superhero
- Released
-
October 20, 2023
- ESRB
-
T For Teen Due To Blood, Drug Reference, Mild Language, Violence
Swinging into first place with a flawless open-world experience is Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Even fast travel in this game doesn’t have loading screens—players simply select their destination and boom, they’re there. All thanks to the PS5’s impressive loading capabilities.
Some players were skeptical, suggesting hidden loading screens were behind the seamless transitions. But Insomniac’s director of core technologies, Mike Fitzgerald, shut down the speculation with a mic-drop response: “That’s a hold-to-confirm prompt, not hiding a load. If anyone wants to check, they can look at how late it’s possible to cancel it out when they’re playing.”
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These video games got crafty when it came to introducing loading screens without breaking immersion.