Science fiction open-world games hit differently to me than any other genre. There’s something about exploring a world that doesn’t exist yet — or couldn’t exist yet — that scratches an itch that fantasy settings and realistic open worlds just don’t reach. I’ve spent hundreds of hours across the games on this list on PC, and each one of them gave me at least one moment where I stopped moving, looked at what was around me, and just appreciated being somewhere that no one has ever actually been. That feeling is what this genre does better than anything else in gaming.

At the same time, the gaming industry has also introduced entirely original sci-fi adventures that have become fan favorites in their own right. From blockbuster AAA releases to hidden gems that deserve far more attention, there’s no shortage of incredible futuristic worlds to explore.

This list covers the best sci-fi open world experiences available in 2026 — games I’ve actually played and can genuinely recommend based on time spent rather than hype. If a game is on here, it earned its place.

Starfield

• Developer: Bethesda
• Release Date: September 6, 2023
• Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC

I’ll be upfront about Starfield — it’s a divisive gam,e and I get why. The first twenty hours felt slow to me, and some of the planets are emptier than I wanted them to be. But somewhere around hour thirty, I stopped caring about what it wasn’t and started appreciating what it actually is — one of the most ambitious space RPGs ever made, with a character-building system deep enough to lose weeks in and a main questline that genuinely surprised me with where it went. The moment I built my first custom ship and took it out into open space for the first time, something clicked. Not every planet needs to be eventful. Sometimes just being out there is the point.

If you go in expecting No Man’s Sky levels of exploration density, you’ll be disappointed. If you go in expecting a Bethesda RPG set in space with all the freedom and jank that implies, you’ll have a great time. I put over 80 hours into it and barely touched half of what’s there.

Why it’s on this list: The scale of freedom it gives you — ship building, outposts, faction questlines — is unmatched in the space RPG genre right now.

DOOM (2016)

• Developer: iD Software
• Release Date: May 13, 2016
• Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch

DOOM 2016 is the game I recommend to anyone who tells me shooters feel slow and boring. It is the opposite of slow and boring. The entire design philosophy is built around never stopping — move constantly, kill to get health back, push forward, stay aggressive. The first time I glory killed an enemy and got health back, I understood immediately that this game had completely rethought how a shooter was supposed to feel. Every level is a puzzle about how to stay alive while everything around you is trying very hard to make that impossible.

The sci-fi setting — a Mars research facility that opened a portal to hell — is exactly as ridiculous as it sounds and exactly as fun to play through. The shotgun is one of the best-feeling weapons I’ve ever used in a PC shooter. The soundtrack by Mick Gordon is legitimately incredible, and I still listen to it when I need to focus. DOOM 2016 is not a long gam,e but it earns every minute of its runtime and then some.

Why it’s on this list: Pure momentum-based shooter design that nothing else has quite replicated. A masterclass in making combat feel incredible.

No Man’s Sky

• Developer: Hello Games
• Release Date: August 9, 2016
• Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch 1+2

No Man’s Sky had one of the most infamous launches in gaming history and one of the most remarkable recoveries. I played it at launch on PC and put it down, frustrated. I came back two years later after Hello Games had released update after update,e completely transforming the game, and I couldn’t believe it was the same product. The universe genuinely feels infinite — I’ve landed on planets with purple oceans and red skies and creatures that looked like someone designed them in a fever dream, and then flown for twenty minutes in any direction and found something completely different again.

What keeps me coming back is the base building combined with the freedom of movement. I have a base on a storm planet that I built over several sessions that I’m genuinely proud of in the way you get proud of things in games when you’ve put real time into them. The multiplayer social hubs add a layer of community that makes the universe feel less lonely,y too. If you bounced off this one at launch — go back. It’s a completely different game now.

Why it’s on this list: The closest thing in gaming to the feeling of actual open-ended space exploration. Infinite in a way that still feels personal.

Cyberpunk 2077

• Developer: CD Projekt Red
• Release Date: December 10, 2020
• Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch 1+2

Cyberpunk 2077 is another one I have to give context on. I played it at launch on PC when it was a technical disaster — crashes, bugs, broken AI, the works. I refunded it and came back with the 2.0 update and the Phantom Liberty expansion, and it was genuinely one of the best gaming experiences I had that year. Night City is the most impressive open-world environment I’ve ever walked around in on PC. The level of detail in every district — the neon, the crowds, the street food stalls, the corporate towers looming above it all — is staggering. I spent two hours just walking around before I touched a quest.

The story with V and Johnny Silverhand is one of the best narrative setups in recent RPG history, and the Phantom Liberty expansion adds a spy thriller storyline that’s even better than the main game in places. The build variety after the 2.0 rework is also genuinely deep — I’ve done a netrunner playthrough where I never fired a weapon and a full berserk melee run, and they felt like completely different games. If you haven’t played post-2.0 Cyberpunk yet,t you are genuinely missing out.

Why it’s on this list: Night City alone is worth the price of entry. One of the most visually stunning and narratively ambitious open worlds ever made.

Prey

• Developer: Arkane Studios
• Release Date: April 27, 2017
• Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC

Prey is the game I recommend most often when someone asks me for a hidden gem on PC, and the most common response I get is “I’ve never heard of it.” That’s a crime. Arkane Studios built a space station — Talos I — that is one of the most meticulously designed environments in gaming. Every room tells a story. Every dead body has a name, a schedule, a reason to be where it is. You piece together what happened to this station through environmental detail rather than cuts, scenes,nes and it is far more effective for it.

The gameplay blends immersive sim freedom with survival tension in a way that very few games manage. You’re never quite comfortable — resources are limited, enemies are unpredictable, and the Mimic enemies that disguise themselves as random objects had me scanning every cup and chair in the station with paranoid intensity. The GLOO Cannon — a gun that shoots expanding foam you can use to freeze enemies, create platforms, or seal environmental hazards — is one of the most creative weapons in any PC game I’ve played. Prey deserved twice the audience it got.

Why it’s on this list: The most underrated sci-fi game of the last decade. If you like immersive sims and haven’t played it, stop reading this and go install it.

BioShock series

• Developer: 2K Games
• Release Date: August 21, 2007
• Platforms: PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch

The original BioShock is one of the games that made me understand what the medium was actually capable of. I was maybe an hour in, swimming down to Rapture for the first time, taking in this art deco underwater city that somehow existed and somehow collapsed, and I remember thinking — no other form of entertainment could deliver this specific feeling. Books can describe it. Films can show it. But only a game can make you walk through it. BioShock understood that completely and built an entire experience around it.

All three games in the series are worth playing, but the first is the essential one. The twist — which I won’t spoil here even though it’s 2026 and you’ve probably heard about it — is still one of the best narrative moments in gaming history,y even knowing it’s coming. BioShock Infinite is divisive in the community, ty but I found it genuinely moving by the end. BioShock 2 is the overlooked one — it has the best gameplay of the three and a story that hits harder than most people give it credit for. Play all three if you can. Start with the first.

Why it’s on this list: The gold standard for narrative-driven sci-fi gaming. Nothing has quite replicated what BioShock did with atmosphere and storytelling.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

• Developer: Respawn
• Release Date: April 28, 2023
• Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the game that made me realise Respawn Entertainment might be one of the best studios working right now. Fallen Order was good. Survivor is on another level. Cal Kestis went from a character I found fine to a character I genuinely cared about over the course of this game, and the world of Koboh — the main planet you spend most of your time on — is one of the best open-ish world environments in any Star Wars game ever made. The secrets hidden throughout it kept me exploring long after the main story was done.

The Star Wars Jedi series stands out in particular for delivering original stories that fit seamlessly alongside major events in the established canon. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the second game in the series, continues the journey of rebel Jedi Cal Kestis as he battles against the growing power of the Empire while struggling to survive in a galaxy under Imperial control.

The combat is where it really shines on PC. Five different lightsaber stances, each one feeling genuinely distinct, and a difficulty curve that rewards learning without punishing you for being a casual player if that’s what you want. I played on Jedi Master difficulty and had moments that genuinely rivalled FromSoftware games for the satisfaction of finally cracking a boss I’d been stuck on. The boss fights specifically are some of the best in any action game released in the last few years. If you have even a passing interest in Star Wars, this is the one to play.

Why it’s on this list: The best Star Wars game in years and one of the best action-adventure games on PC full stop.

Dead Space (2023)

• Developer: Motive Studio
• Release Date: January 27, 2023
• Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC

The Dead Space remake is what I want every remake to be. It doesn’t just upgrade the visuals and call it done — it rethinks the pacing, expands the story, deepens the atmosphere, and makes a game that was already brilliant feel like it was designed for modern hardware from the ground up. The Ishimura — the massive derelict spaceship the whole game takes place on — is more terrifying in the remake than it was in 2008 because the lighting, sound design and enemy behaviour have all been pushed to a level the original couldn’t reach.

I played this one at night with headphones on my PC, and I will not be doing that again. The sound design specifically is working on a level that most horror games don’t reach — creaking metal, distant crashes, the specific sound a Necromorph makes when it’s close, but you can’t see it yet. Resource management is real and tense throughout. The Plasma Cutter is still one of the most satisfying weapons in any shooter. If you want a sci-fi horror experience that will actually get under your skin — this is it.

Why it’s on this list: The best sci-fi horror game available on PC right now. A remake that genuinely surpasses the original.

Detroit: Become Human

• Developer: Quantic Dream
• Release Date: May 25, 2018
• Platforms: PS4, PC

Detroit: Become Human is not like any other game on this list,t and that’s exactly why it belongs here ( Also, I love this game ). There’s no combat to master, no open world to explore, no loot to collect. It’s a choice-driven narrative game about androids developing consciousness in a near-future Detroit, and it is one of the most emotionally effective sci-fi stories I’ve experienced in any medium — game, film, or book. I played through it twice on PC and made completely different choices each time, and got two completely different stories out of it. That’s impressive writing.

The three protagonist system — you play as Connor, the detective android, Kar, a domestic android trying to protect a child, and Mark, the android who starts a revolution — gives the story a scope that a single perspective couldn’t achieve. Some storylines hit harder than others, but all three are genuinely compelling, and the way they occasionally intersect is handled really well. The moment in Connor’s storyline where I realised the game was going to let me make a choice I genuinely didn’t want to make — and then made me live with it — is one of the most affecting moments I’ve had in a game in years.

Why it’s on this list: The best sci-fi narrative game available on PC. If you want a story that actually makes you think and feel, nothing else on this list does it quite like Detroit.

Why Sci Fi feels Peak

The best sci-fi open worlds do something that almost no other genre manages — they make you feel genuinely small in a way that’s exciting rather than defeating. Standing on a ridge in a game like this, looking out at a world that runs on rules completely different from our own, with no idea what’s on the other side of that horizon — that’s the feeling I keep chasing. The games on this list all deliver it in different ways. If you haven’t played them yet, you have a good few hundred hours ahead of you. Enjoy every minute.

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Mr. Sano

Hello! I am Mr. Sano Ethan, a content creator, variety gamer, and the driving force behind Kick Of Draft. With over 6 years of hands-on experience across PC, console, and indie gaming,