History Main / ImmersiveSim

* The ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series (1998-present) is universally considered one of the genre-codifying titles[[note]]For the first three installments, at least[[/note]]. This is due to its highly systems-based stealth gameplay, its organic problem-solving elements, and its sprawling, open-ended levels]. However, all titles in the series deviate from traditional immersive sim conventions by restricting the player's ability to use violence with automatic GameOvers based on difficulty level[[note]]In the first two games, the "Hard" difficulty proscribed killing civilians while "Expert" mode forbade the player from killing any human beings at all. ''Deadly Shadows'' toned it down by forbidding killing only innocents, in "Expert" mode, during story missions -- no restrictions whatsoever applied while traversing the hub world. But the reboot brought the restrictions back, with its hardest mode permitting the killing of guards ... but forbidding the player from even ''blackjacking'' civilians, a mainstay of the prior installments.[[/note]]. In traditional immersive sim design, a game should end with the player character's death, or with a NonStandardGameOver that is very tightly woven into the narrative. While an immersive sim certainly could force nonviolent play, this would traditionally be done by just not giving the player any weapons (or by making combat prohibitively difficult), whereas Garrett always carries a sword/dagger and arrows, whose usage the rules inorganically restrict.[[note]]And while Garrett can't reliably beat even one sentry sword-to-sword on any difficulty level, he's no slouch when it comes to archery or ambushes.[[/note]]

** ''System Shock'' (2021, Creator/NightdiveStudios) is a [[VideoGameRemake remake]] of the original 1994 game. Remaking the game room-by-room, making it a very faithful recreation of the original game, but at the same time with better graphics and modern videogame design principles.
** ''System Shock 3'' (TBA, [=OtherSide=]) is currently in development, with Warren Spector and Doug Church back at the helm, and promises to be true to its predecessors' principles.

** ''System Shock 2 '' (1999, Irrational) is set some time after the first game on two docked spaceships, the ''Von Braun'' and the ''Rickenbacker'', after both have been overrun by a mutagenic alien hive mind known as "the Many".

* '''Non-linearity'''. Both in terms of StoryBranching and level design. An immersive sim needn't be open world--most aren't--nor need it allow players to freely revisit old levels, but each level will feature many sidepaths, loads of alternate routes, secret areas (often with hidden StoryBreadcrumbs), and small touches that create the impression of a real, lived-in place that does not exist solely for the player. To this end, immersive sims very often ''break'' TheLawOfConservationOfDetail.

* ''VideoGame/BioShock1'' (2007, Creator/{{Irrational|Games}}) sees the player trapped in an UnderwaterCity of Rapture, once utopian, but now fallen to anarchy and civil war. It features the iconic splicers, Big Daddies. and Little Sisters. However, unlike earlier immersive sims, its exploreable areas are highly linear, there are less ways to interact with the world, and the game is heavily scripted, sparking some debate over whether or not it should be classified as a first-person shooter instead. Furthermore, the game's big twist can be seen as a [[DeconstructionGame deconstruction of the genre]], explicitly denying players any form of agency on what is arguably the most important decision in the game, and revealing that they only had as much as the BigBad -- and, by extension, the developers -- allowed them.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series (1998-present) is universally considered one of the genre-codifying titles[[note]]For the first three installments, at least[[/note]]. This is due to its highly systems-based stealth gameplay, its organic problem-solving elements, and its sprawling, open-ended levels]. However, all titles in the series deviate from traditional immersive sim conventions by restricting the player's ability to use violence with auttomatic GameOvers based on difficulty level[[note]]In the first two games, the "Hard" difficulty proscribed killing civilians while "Expert" mode forbade the player from killing any human beings at all. ''Deadly Shadows'' toned it down by forbidding killing only innocents, in "Expert" mode, during story missions--no restrictions whatsoever applied while traversing the hub world. But the reboot brought the restrictions back, with its hardest mode permitting the killing of guards ... but forbidding the player from even ''blackjacking'' civilians, a mainstay of the prior installments.[[/note]]. In traditional immersive sim design, a game should end with the player character's death, or with a NonStandardGameOver that is very tightly woven into the narrative. While an immersive sim certainly could force nonviolent play, this would traditionally be done by just not giving the player any weapons (or by making combat prohibitively difficult), whereas Garrett always carries a sword/dagger and arrows, whose usage the rules inorganically restrict.[[note]]And while Garrett can't reliably beat even one sentry sword-to-sword on any difficulty level, he's no slouch when it comes to archery or ambushes.[[/note]]

* ''VisualNovel/ThePortopiaSerialMurderCase'' (1983, Chunsoft) was the first game to have most of the key immersive sim elements [[OlderThanTheyThink seven years before the founding of Looking Glass]], making it arguably an UrExample. It was a first-person adventure game with an open world, character AI, choices and consequences, non-linear game design, open-ended narrative told through notes and diaries, interactive environments, emergent gameplay, allowed multiple ways to achieve objectives, and lacked failstates.

* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' (2004, Creator/TroikaGames) is a WesternRPG that, despite its numerous explicit ludic abstractions (it was based on a TabletopRPG [[TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade system]], after all), manages to create a powerful sense of real space with its Gothic, vampire-run UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, with huge levels and far-reaching choices. One level in particular, the Ocean House, is often [[https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/313302/7_influential_immersive_sims_that_all_devs_should_play.php cited]] as a hallmark of immersive space design. It is not universally accepted as a true immersive sim, though, because of the player character's relatively limited ability to interact with the world's physical elements despite having the famous Source Engine at its disposal and its often-clunky handling which can make the gameplay feel like it's governed more by dicerolls than by the player's input.
* It's generally agreed that ''VideoGame/WeHappyFew'' (2018, Compulsion Games) set out to be an immersive sim in the vein of ''VideoGame/BioShock1'', albeit with a greater focus on survival and procedurally-generated elements. There's less consensus on how well it achieved those goals, but...

* The ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series (1998-present) is universally considered one of the genre-codifying titles[[note]]For the first three installments, at least[[/note]]. This is due to its highly systems-based stealth gameplay, its organic problem-solving elements, and its sprawling, open-ended levels that can be navigated in many ways. However, all four titles in the series deviate from traditional immersive sim conventions, at least on their higher difficulty levels, by restricting the player's ability to use violence[[note]]In the first two games, the "Hard" difficulty proscribed the killing of civilians while "Expert" mode forbade the player from killing any human beings at all. ''Deadly Shadows'' toned it down by only forbidding killing innocents in "Expert" mode during story missions--no restrictions whatsoever applied while traversing the hub world--but the reboot brought the restrictions back, with its hardest mode permitting the killing of guards ... but forbidding the player from even ''blackjacking'' civilians--a mainstay of the previous three installments.[[/note]], and giving players who broke these rules an automatic GameOver. In traditional immersive sim design, a game should end with the player character's death, or with a NonStandardGameOver that is very tightly woven into the narrative. While an immersive sim certainly could force nonviolent play, this would traditionally be done by just not giving the player any weapons (or by making combat prohibitively difficult), whereas Garrett always carries a sword, a dagger, and/or arrows whose usage the rules inorganically restrict.[[note]]And while Garrett can't reliably beat even a single sentry in sword-to-sword combat on any difficulty level, he's no slouch when it comes to archery or ambushes, provided that he has an open escape route.[[/note]]

** ''VideoGame/ThiefIITheMetalAge'' (2000, Looking Glass) scaled down the fantasy elements of the first game, such as non-human monsters and maze-like dungeons, in favor of making the City appear and behave more like a realistic urban environment. It also expanded the protagonist Garret's toolset with new technological tools.
** ''VideoGame/ThiefDeadlyShadows'' (2004, Ion Storm Austin) introduced to the series a central hub level, consisting of several districts of the City, from which the plot mission locations are accessed and which are unlocked for exploration gradually as the story progresses. The AI was also dramatically improved compared to the first two games, with alerted guards becoming downright relentless in their searching on the higher difficulty levels. This game also closed the last immersion-breaking gap of the previous games, transforming their shopping screens between missions into an [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration in-universe interaction]]. Paradoxically, the hub-based world design was seen in some respects as a step ''away'' from immersion: the hardware limitations of the time, combined with the game's cross-development for PC and consoles, forced the developers to break the (theoretically interconnected) hub world and all levels into loading zones.[[note]]Modders have since then removed the loading zones from the dedicated "level" maps, but the hub itself remains broken up into separate loading areas.[[/note]][[/index]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'' (2007, Creator/{{Crytek}}) and its 2009 stand-alone expansion ''Crysis: Warhead'' are not traditional immersive sims, having more in common with the FirstPersonShooter[[note]]and their sequels are considered sophisticated FirstPersonShooter games at most[[/note]]. However, the sprawling levels of Crysis's first half and almost all of Warhead, the many tools and powers players can use, the absence of artificial failstates (besides a late-game EscortMission), and the first game's UnbrokenFirstPersonPerspective[[note]]Abandoned for traditional cutscenes in ''Warhead''[[/note]] reflect the immersive sim ethos. Incidentally, the Nanosuit gives its wearer powers reminiscent of JC Denton's augmentations.
* ''VideoGame/DarkMessiah'' (2006, Creator/ArkaneStudios) was designed as a spiritual successor to ''VideoGame/ArxFatalis'' and has many of Arkane's signature touches: highly-reactive environments which encourage the player to be a CombatPragmatist, branching skill trees, and gleeful use of the Source physics engine. It was by far Arkane's most purely action-focused game until 2019's ''VideoGame/WolfensteinYoungblood'', which puts it in a ''VideoGame/BioShock1''-esque limbo of being either a very reactive action game with RPG elements, or a mechanically minimalist immersive sim.
* ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' (2008, Creator/ElectronicArts) is sometimes included on lists of immersive sims for its atmospherics, its level design, its memorably involved combat mechanics, and its unusual synthesis of a DiegeticInterface with a third-person perspective. This classification is controversial, however -- probably the most controversial entry on this list -- and none of its sequels are labeled as immersive sims by anyone.

* ''VideoGame/FarCry2'' (2007, Creator/{{Ubisoft}}) is an open-world FirstPersonShooter that has, as of 2020, earned the "Immersive Sim" tag on the Steam Store. It embraces immersive sim conventions like UnbrokenFirstPersonPerspective, a DiegeticInterface-style world map, and an atmospheric, highly reactive environment[[note]]You want to clear out a machine gun emplacement with a flamethrower? In the African savanna? During the dry season? You'd better be ready to run[[/note]]. Even its polarizing experimental mechanics, like its malaria system, its total lack of a targeting reticle, and weapon degradation, evoke the immersive sim philosophy. Unfortunately, while its world is reactive, it lacks ''persistency''[[note]]Most egregious is its habit of respawning enemies at locations that your character had just "cleared out" minutes prior[[/note]], and it loses more points for the unscaleable rock formations cluttering its map, that can make the sandbox feel paradoxically linear.

* ''[[VideoGame/Hitman2016 Hitman]]'' (2016, Creator/IOInteractive) transplants the series' core stealth assassination gameplay into a highly systemic setting, governed by global rules and combinable mechanics set in vast, nonlinear maps, very much like in many of the best immersive sims. It breaks from genre conventions by being entirely third-person, however, and relies on scripting[[note]]although sometimes very intricate, naturalistic-seeming scripting[[/note]] to maintain the series's tradition of [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident "signature" kills]]. Beyond genre trappings, the maps are also perhaps the closest adaptation of Warren Specter’s early concept of the immersive sim as a highly detailed single block of a city where every person goes about realistic lives off of advanced programming. This is also true of its sequels' ''VideoGame/Hitman2'' and ''VideoGame/Hitman3'' as they share identical engines, and therefore, identical AI routines.
** 2006's ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'' has a more downplayed variation, as the limitations of the technology of the time didn't allow the game to be as nearly as expansive as the games are now. For the time, the levels being significantly more open than those of the first three games, Agent 47 being able to move through the environment more freely, multiple ways to complete objectives, and even tried to create a cause-and-effect relationship between levels with its "Infamy" system[[note]]Make a mess or leave too many witnesses during a hit, and the guards at the next level will be more likely to see through your disguises[[/note]].

* ''[[VideoGame/NeonStruct Neon Struct: Die Augen der Welt]]'' (2015, Minor Key Games) can be described as a minimalist, miniature, synthwave-styled tribute to ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' with a greatly increased emphasis on stealth, and a shadow-based system reminiscent of ''Thief's''[[note]]The HUD has a Light Gem-like indicator of how visible you are.[[/note]].
* ''VideoGame/TheOccupation'' (2019, White Paper Games) brings the immersive sim to a more down-to-earth setting, putting you in the shoes of an investigative journalist/whistleblower nosing around a government office building in a slightly dystopian 1980s London. Besides boasting immersive sim's usual dynamic AI, heavy exploration, and organic approaches to obstacles, ''The Occupation'' adds the unusual step of applying a hard, real-world four-hour time limit: If you start a game, get distracted, and forget to pause it, then the game's story can end with your character having dawdled and smoked cigarettes on an office balcony.

* While the ''VideoGame/SplinterCell'' series (2002-ongoing, Creator/{{Ubisoft}}) as a whole does ''not'' belong to the immersive sim family, its third installment, ''Chaos Theory'' (2005), comes very close for a third-person game. It kept the first two games' uncompromising demands that the player use stealth, but gave Sam Fisher a much more varied arsenal of tools and weapons[[note]]Plus the option to choose between several load-outs pre-mission[[/note]], and had a fairly nonlinear level design[[note]]the bank heist level in Panama City is a particularly good example of this[[/note]], with players routinely having multiple ways to complete objectives, in multiple orders[[note]]With the manner in which previous objectives were completed sometimes influencing whether or not subsequent ones would be given[[/note]]. This was a dramatic change from the first two games, which were not just linear but often had only one "correct" way to proceed, making them akin to puzzle games. It also offered systemicity beyond any of the prior or subsequent titles[[note]]Sam can often manipulate environmental light and noise levels, and while previous titles would give you an automatic GameOver if you raised the alarm too many times, now guards just don body armor, toss flares around, and start firing wildly[[/note]]. It also allowed the player to screw up but still finish the level[[note]]Kill a merchant captain before you interrogate him on a target passenger's location? Well, the target is still somewhere on board, so you can just hunt him down yourself[[/note]]: while Sam's superiors berate him if he gets needlessly violent, there are only a few levels where the game, with plot-relevant justifications, fails you should you kill someone.

* ''VideoGame/{{Subnautica}}'' (2018, Unknown Worlds Entertainment) is a rare SurvivalSandbox game to ''not'' be procedurally generated, but rather to offer vast, intricately-designed sandbox, with elements reminiscent of MetroidVania. Setpieces are few and far between, the developers went to great lengths to create multiple consistent underwater biomes, object permanence is a core gameplay mechanic, and while the diving system is jam-packed with AcceptableBreaksFromReality[[note]]the player character can survive depths that would kill a real human (and will indeed destroy an un-upgraded submersible's hull), the planet's two immense moons exert no tidal forces, underwater visibility is much greater than it would be in real life, and decompression sickness apparently does not exist[[/note]] but these decisions ultimately contribute to a uniquely immersive gameworld.

* ''VideoGame/AlmostEpicAdventuresNeverlootedDungeon'' (TBD, Wild Mage Games) is an upcoming Dungeon Crawler with an emphasis on treacherous deadly traps, with a strong immersive sim design phisolophy. The public demo released during the Steam Game Festival Autumn 2020 showed great promises of open-ended problem solving and physics-based interactivity.

* ''VideoGame/AlmostEpicAdventures:NeverlootedDungeon'' (TBD, Wild Mage Games) is an upcoming Dungeon Crawler with an emphasis on treacherous deadly traps, with a strong immersive sim design phisolophy. The public demo released during the Steam Game Festival Autumn 2020 showed great promises of open-ended problem solving and physics-based interactivity.

* ''VideoGame/AlmostEpicAdventuresNeverlootedDungeon'' (TBD, Wild Mage Games) is an upcoming Dungeon Crawler with an emphasis on treacherous deadly traps, with a strong immersive sim design phisolophy. The public demo released during the Steam Game Festival Autumn 2020 showed great promises of open-ended problem solving and physics-based interactivity.

* ''VideoGame/{{Almost Epic Adventures™: Neverlooted Dungeon}}'' (TBD, Wild Mage Games) is an upcoming Dungeon Crawler with an emphasis on treacherous deadly traps, with a strong immersive sim design phisolophy. The public demo released during the Steam Game Festival Autumn 2020 showed great promises of open-ended problem solving and physics-based interactivity.

Because the term was obscure for many years[[note]]and because, again, "immersive sim" is arguably a philosophy rather than a genre[[/note]], most games in this genre have traditionally been classified as [[FirstPersonShooter first-person shooters]] on the higher end of the FacklerScaleOfFPSRealism, [[StealthBasedGame stealth games]], SurvivalHorror, or {{Western RPG}}s instead. That said, many games in the WideOpenSandbox and stealth genres tend to incorporate elements of the immersive sim genre without going all the way into the EmergentGameplay territory. Examples of these include Creator/{{Bethesda}}'s [[NPCScheduling Radiant AI]]-based [=RPGs=] (''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' from ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' onward, ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' et seq.) and the latest ''VideoGame/{{Hitman|2016}}'' reboot. The SurvivalSandbox shares the immersive sim's focus on emergent gameplay, but tend to be less focused on telling a coherent story.

* ''[[VideoGame/Hitman2016 Hitman]]'' (2016, Creator/IOInteractive) transplants the series' core stealth assassination gameplay into a highly systemic setting, governed by global rules and combinable mechanics set in vast, nonlinear maps, very much like in many of the best immersive sims. It breaks from genre conventions by being entirely third-person, however, and relies on scripting[[note]]although sometimes very intricate, naturalistic-seeming scripting[[/note]] to maintain the series's tradition of [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident "signature" kills]]. Beyond genre trappings, the maps are also perhaps the closest adaptation of Warren Specter’s early concept of the immersive sim as a highly detailed single block of a city where every person goes about realistic lives off of advanced programming.
** 2006's ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'' foreshadowed the 2016 reboot's immersive sim-wards turn, with levels being significantly more open than those of the first three games, Agent 47 being able to move through the environment more freely, multiple ways to complete objectives, and even tried to create a cause-and-effect relationship between levels with its "Infamy" system[[note]]Make a mess or leave too many witnesses during a hit, and the guards at the next level will be more likely to see through your disguises[[/note]].

The "immersive sim" is a video game genre[[note]]There's ongoing debate about whether immersive sim constitutes as a genre, or if it's closer to a narrative stucture or game design philosophy, but for the sake of simplicity, we'll be referring to it as a genre for the rest of this article.[[/note]] that has existed in some form since TheNineties, when it was codified by Creator/LookingGlassStudios and Creator/IonStorm Austin, but has experienced a major comeback in TheNewTens. Games in this genre aim to simulate a large believable lived-in 3D space wherein the [[PlayerCharacter players' avatar]] exists as an active physical entity, [[NonEntityGeneral unlike]] in many other SimulationGame subgenres, -- hence the "immersive" part. To this end, the developers combine clever {{game system}}s with [[ArtificialBrilliance advanced]] VideoGameAI and afford the players maximum expression, while also refusing to hold their hand. Immersive sims commonly have following traits (although this list is neither normative, nor exhaustive):

The "immersive sim" is a video game genre[[note]]There's ongoing debate about wheter immersive sim constitutes as a genre, or if it's closer to a narrative stucture or game design philosophy, but for the sake of simplicity, we'll be referring to it as a genre for the rest of this article.[[/note]] that has existed in some form since TheNineties, when it was codified by Creator/LookingGlassStudios and Creator/IonStorm Austin, but has experienced a major comeback in TheNewTens. Games in this genre aim to simulate a large believable lived-in 3D space wherein the [[PlayerCharacter players' avatar]] exists as an active physical entity, [[NonEntityGeneral unlike]] in many other SimulationGame subgenres, -- hence the "immersive" part. To this end, the developers combine clever {{game system}}s with [[ArtificialBrilliance advanced]] VideoGameAI and afford the players maximum expression, while also refusing to hold their hand. Immersive sims commonly have following traits (although this list is neither normative, nor exhaustive):

* ''VideoGame/SpaceStation13'' (2003, [=Exadv1=]) has got nearly every characteristic that defines the genre aside from being a 3D single-player game. You could even say it's ''more'' systemic than everything on this list, having systems that simulate metabolisms, atmospherics, chemistry, energy production, and so much more, built up through the game's unusual development history and its disregard for graphical prowess. However, the game is played in a 2D Isometric perspective, and it a multiplayer sandbox roleplay (but ''not'' an RPG) game without any set objective (beyond the vaguely defined "do your job"), this is actually what makes all the game shine, as the multiple systems all react to the many players inputs transforming the station into a beautiful symphony of chaos.

* ''VideoGame/SpaceStation13'' (2003, [=Exadv1=]) has got nearly every characteristic that defines the genre aside from being a 3D single-player game. You could even say it's ''more'' systemic than everything on this list, having systems that simulate metabolisms, atmospherics, chemistry, energy production and so much more, built up through the game's unusual development history and its disregard for graphical prowess.

* Some players of ''VideoGame/SpaceStation13'' have made the argument that it could be considered an immersive sim; it's got nearly every characteristic that defines the genre aside from being a 3D single-player game. You could even say it's *more* systemic than everything on this list, having systems that simulate metabolisms, atmospherics, chemistry, energy production and so much more, built up through the game's unusual development history and its disregard for graphical prowess. But obviously, it's kind of hard calling a top-down pixel fest running on a 2003 engine that depends on Internet Explorer immersive.

Because the genre had historically evolved under the expectation that {{Virtual Reality|Index}} technology was just around the corner, games in it often feature UnbrokenFirstPersonPerspective and {{Diegetic Interface}}s to improve their PlayerAndProtagonistIntegration, although this is not a requirement. {{Exposition}} and WorldBuilding tend to be handled through environmental storytelling, with StoryBreadcrumbs scattered throughout the game world to encourage exploration thereof, and BackTracking is a common activity -- in this, the genre is similar to EnvironmentalNarrativeGames[[note]]which, unlike immersive sims, tend to deemphasize traditional gameplay challenges[[/note]]. Many games in it also contain nods to the number [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAtAyycx-uY 0451]][[note]]often as the first password the player uses[[/note]], in reference both to the original ''VideoGame/SystemShock''[[note]]whose first password was "451" in a nod to the keycode of the Looking Glass offices during its development[[/note]] and to ''Literature/Fahrenheit451''. Indeed, a 451 game, is another common name for the genre.

Because the genre had historically evolved under the expectation that {{Virtual Reality|Index}} technology was just around the corner, games in it often feature UnbrokenFirstPersonPerspective and {{Diegetic Interface}}s to improve their PlayerAndProtagonistIntegration, although this is not a requirement. {{Exposition}} and WorldBuilding tend to be handled through environmental storytelling, with StoryBreadcrumbs scattered throughout the game world to encourage exploration thereof, and BackTracking is a common activity -- in this, the genre is similar to EnvironmentalNarrativeGames[[note]]which, unlike immersive sims, tend to deemphasize traditional gameplay challenges[[/note]]. Many games in it also contain nods to the number [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAtAyycx-uY 0451]][[note]]often as the first password the player uses[[/note]], in reference both to the original ''VideoGame/SystemShock''[[note]]whose first password was "451" in a nod to the keycode of the Looking Glass offices during its development[[/note]] and to ''Literature/Fahrenheit451''.

The "Immersive Sim Canon" is a loose agglomeration of genre-defining titles and series created by Creator/LookingGlassStudios and its direct descendants: Creator/IrrationalGames, Creator/IonStorm Austin, Creator/ArkaneStudios (via Ion Storm), and [=OtherSide=] Entertainment. This is not to imply that these games are "better" than additional titles listed further below -- just that when developers and critics discuss immersive sims, they tend to hold one or some of these up as the golden standard of the genre.

* ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' (2008, Creator/{{EA}}) is sometimes included on lists of immersive sims for its atmospherics, its level design, its memorably involved combat mechanics, and its unusual synthesis of a DiegeticInterface with a third-person perspective. This classification is controversial, however -- probably the most controversial entry on this list -- and none of its sequels are labeled as immersive sims by anyone.

!!The universally-acknowledged "Immersive Sim Canon" consists of:

* ''VideoGame/{{Consortium}}'' (2014, Interdimensional Games) was made as a SpiritualSuccessor to old-school immersive sims, especially to DeusEx. It emphasizes player choice ''immensely'', in terms of both gameplay and story-branching. Indeed, one possible ending is for the player to complete the game without having solved the central mystery. Is setting -- the CoolPlane that serves as the mobile HQ for the intelligence agency the player character serves -- also evokes the closed-off space station of ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' (sans the SurvivalHorror elements). This setting inevitably means that ''Consortium'' has probably the narrowest scope of any of the "canonical" immersive sims[[note]]although the plane is still quite large and interconnected[[/note]], but the game's nonlinearity and ''narrative'' openness goes some way to counterbalancing this.
** As of 2020, a Sequel titled ''Consortium: The Tower'' is in the alpha stages of early access on Steam. It promises to keep its predecessor's narrative openness, while offering a larger setting and even more freedom.

* ''[[VideoGame/Hitman2016 Hitman]]'' (2016, Creator/IOInteractive) transplants the series' core stealth assassination gameplay into a highly systemic setting, governed by global rules and combinable mechanics set in vast, nonlinear maps, very much like in many of the best immersive sims. It breaks from genre conventions by being entirely third-person, however, and relies on scripting[[note]]although sometimes very intricate, naturalistic-seeming scripting[[/note]] to maintain the series's tradition of [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident "signature" kills]].

The term "immersive simulation" was [[http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131523/postmortem_ion_storms_deus_ex.php coined]] in 2000 by Warren Spector, the grandfather of the genre who had worked at both Looking Glass and Ion Storm. Spector, however, instead [[http://www.pcgamer.com/the-designers-of-dishonored-bioshock-2-and-deus-ex-swap-stories-about-making-pcs-most-complex-games/3/ attributes it]] to Doug Church, also of Looking Glass Studios. Church and the Looking Glass co-founder Paul Neurath are usually named as the genre's "fathers", as it was them who laid its basic design foundations.

Because the term was obscure for many years, most games in this genre have traditionally been classified as [[FirstPersonShooter first-person shooters]], [[StealthBasedGame stealth games]], SurvivalHorror, or {{Western RPG}}s instead. That said, many games in the WideOpenSandbox and stealth genres tend to incorporate elements of the immersive sim genre without going all the way into the EmergentGameplay territory. Examples of these include Creator/{{Bethesda}}'s [[NPCScheduling Radiant AI]]-based [=RPGs=] (''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' from ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' onward, ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' et seq.) and the latest ''VideoGame/{{Hitman|2016}}'' reboot. The SurvivalSandbox is another genre that shares the immersive sim's focus on emergent gameplay, but tend to be less focused on telling a coherent story.

* ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'' (2007, Creator/{{Crytek}}) and its 2009 stand-alone expansion ''Crysis: Warhead'' are not traditional immersive sims[[note]]and their sequels are considered sophisticated FirstPersonShooter games at most[[/note]], since the player often ''must'' use violence to advance, the story is linear with no player choice at all, and RPG elements are absent beyond some limited weapon customization[[note]interestingly, the sequels ''did'' introduce RPG elements, but fall farther from the immersive sim mark[[/note]]. However, the sprawling levels of Crysis's first half and almost all of Warhead, the many tools and powers players have to complete their objectives, the game's combination of viable stealth with strong shooter mechanics, the absence of artificial failstates (besides a late-game EscortMission), and the first game's UnbrokenFirstPersonPerspective[[note]]Abandoned for traditional cutscenes in ''Warhead''[[/note]] show elements of the immersive sim ethos. Incidentally, the Nanosuit gives its wearer powers reminiscent of JC Denton's augmentations.

* ''[[VideoGame/NeonStruct Neon Struct: Die Augen der Welt]]'' (2015, Minor Key Games) can be described as a minimalist, miniature, synthwave-styled tribute to ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' with a greatly increased emphasis on stealth, and a shadow-based stealth system reminiscent of ''Thief's''[[note]]The HUD has a Light Gem-like indicator of how visible you are.[[/note]].

* While the ''VideoGame/SplinterCell'' series (2002-ongoing, Creator/{{Ubisoft}}) as a whole does ''not'' belong to the immersive sim family, its third installment, ''Chaos Theory'' (2005), comes very close for a third-person game. It kept the first two games' uncompromising demands that the player use stealth, but gave Sam Fisher a much more varied arsenal of tools and weapons[[note]]Plus the option to choose between several load-outs pre-mission[[/note]], and had a fairly nonlinear level design[[note]]the bank heist level in Panama City is a particularly good example of this[[/note]], with players routinely having multiple ways to complete objectives, in multiple orders[[note]]With the manner in which previous objectives were completed sometimes influencing whether or not subsequent ones would be given[[/note]]. This was a dramatic change from the first two games, which were not just linear but often had only one "correct" way to proceed, making them akin to puzzle games. It also offered systemicity beyond any of the prior or subsequent titles[[note]]Sam can often manipulate environmental light and noise levels, and while previous titles would give you an automatic GameOver if you raised the alarm too many times, now guards just don body armor, toss flares around, and start firing wildly[[/note]]. It also allowed the player to screw up but still finish the level[[note]]Kill a merchant captain before you interrogate him on a target passenger's location? Well, the target is somewhere on board, so you can just hunt him down yourself[[/note]], something earlier titles did not: while Sam's superiors berate him if he gets needlessly violent, there are only a few levels where the game, with plot-relevant justifications, fails you should you kill someone.

* ''VideoGame/{{Subnautica}}'' (2018, Unknown Worlds Entertainment) is one of the rare open-world survival games to ''not'' be procedurally generated, but rather to put the player in a vast, intricately-designed sandbox where exploration is often limited in ways reminiscent of MetroidVania. Setpieces are few and far between, the developers went to great lengths to create multiple consistent underwater biomes, object permanence is not just present but is a core gameplay mechanic, and while the diving system is jam-packed with AcceptableBreaksFromReality in terms of physiologically survivable depths, tides, underwater visibility, and decompression sickness, these decisions contribute to a uniquely immersive gameworld.

Because the term was obscure for many years, most games in this genre have traditionally been classified as [[FirstPersonShooter first-person shooters]], [[StealthBasedGame stealth games]], SurvivalHorror, or {{Western RPG}}s instead. That said, many games in the WideOpenSandbox and stealth genres tend to incorporate elements of the immersive sim genre without going all the way into the EmergentGameplay territory. Examples of these include Creator/{{Bethesda}}'s [[NPCScheduling Radiant AI]]-based [=RPGs=] (''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' from ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' onward, ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' et seq.) and the latest ''VideoGame/{{Hitman|2016}}'' reboot.

* ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'' (2007, Creator/{{Crytek}}) and its 2009 stand-alone expansion ''Crysis: Warhead'' are not traditional immersive sims[[note]]and their sequels are considered sophisticated FirstPersonShooter games at most[[/note]], since the player often ''must'' use violence to advance, the story is linear with no player choice whatsoever[[note]Beyond a few side objectives with no consequences whatsoever[[/note]], and RPG elements are absent beyond some limited weapon customization[[note]Interestingly, the sequels ''did'' introduce RPG elements, but fall farther from the immersive sim mark[[/note]]. However, the sprawling levels of Crysis's first half and almost all of Warhead, the many tools and powers players have to complete their objectives, the game's combination of viable stealth with strong shooter mechanics, the absence of artificial failstates (besides a late-game EscortMission), and the first game's UnbrokenFirstPersonPerspective[[note]]Abandoned for traditional cutscenes in ''Warhead''[[/note]] show elements of the immersive sim ethos. Incidentally, the Nanosuit gives its wearer powers reminiscent of JC Denton's augmentations.

* '''Consistency'''. As noted above, special cases and one-offs are generally few and far in-between: e.g. there are no {{Invisible Wall}}s and no StoryDrivenInvulnerability -- but even if an important NPC bites the dust, there is no GameOver, either, and the simulation [[AnyoneCanDie just carries on]]. In fact, player character's death is often the only explicit failure state.

* '''High physicality'''. The player character's body is a tangible object that exists in the game's universe, and is governed by said universe's laws. Magic may exist depending on the setting, but it will have a "tactile" feel[[note]]potions to slow your fall, greatly enhanced speed, and offensive powers designed to [[WreakingHavok flex the physics engine]][[/note]]. CriticalExistenceFailure is often averted: injuries will make you weaker, and the game may even account for how they were inflected and which body part was injured. The game may feature inventory management, and the player may be vulnerable to attack while accessing the inventory. More modern immersive sims are all but guaranteed to have a physics engine, which may be integrated into gameplay. Presentation-wise, this means that FirstPersonGhost is often averted and a DiegeticInterface may be used.

* ''VideoGame/{{Consortium}}'' (2014, Interdimensional Games) was made as a SpiritualSuccessor to old-school immersive sims, especially to DeusEx. It emphasizes player choice ''immensely'', in terms of both gameplay and story-branching. Indeed, one possible ending is for the player to complete the game without having solved the central mystery. Is setting, taking place entirely on board the CoolPlane that serves as the mobile HQ intelligence agency for the intelligence agency the player character serves, also evokes the closed-off space station of ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' (sans the SurvivalHorror elements). This setting inevitably means that ''Consortium'' has probably the narrowest scope of any of the "canonical" immersive sims[[note]]although the plane is still quite large and interconnected[[/note]], but the game's nonlinearity and ''narrative'' openness goes some way to counterbalancing this.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series (1998-present) is universally considered one of the genre-codifying titles[[note]]For the first three installments, at least[[/note]]. This is due to its highly systems-based stealth gameplay, its organic problem-solving elements, and its trademark sprawling, open-ended levels that can be navigated in many ways. However, all four titles in the series deviate from traditional immersive sim conventions, at least on their higher difficulty levels, by restricting the player's ability to use violence[[note]]In the first two games, the "Hard" difficulty proscribed the killing of civilians while "Expert" mode forbade the play from killing any human beings at all. ''Deadly Shadows'' toned it down by only forbidding killing innocents in "Expert" mode during story missions--no restrictions whatsoever applied while traversing the hub world--but the reboot brought the restrictions back, with its hardest mode permitting the killing of guards ... but forbidding the player from even ''blackjacking'' civilians--a mainstay of the previous three installments.[[/note]], and giving players who broke these rules an automatic GameOver. In traditional immersive sim design, a game should end with the player character's death, or with a NonStandardGameOver that is very tightly woven into the narrative. While an immersive sim certianly could force nonviolent play, this would traditionally be done by just not giving the player any weapons (or by making combat prohibitively difficult), whereas Garrett is always armed with a sword, a dagger, and/or arrows whose usage the rules inorganically restrict.[[note]]And while Garrett can't reliably beat even a single sentry in sword-to-sword combat on any difficulty level, he's no slouch when it comes to archery or ambushes, provided that he has an open escape route.[[/note]]