Virtual photography, the practice of taking photographs inside virtual worlds, has become a popular hobby among gamers in recent years. A lot of games have made a habit of including a "photo mode" designed to facilitate the practice, usually by enabling the player to freely move and position the camera without the constraints of normal gameplay. Some entire communities have formed around virtual photography. While some developers continue to resist it, a lot of games have embraced the practice. Some popular choices for virtual photographers include the Assassin's Creed, Horizon, God of War, and The Last of Us franchises.
A lot of upcoming games have been revealed with plans to release either late 2023 or 2024, and virtual photographers are looking for any opportunity to photograph new virtual worlds. Indeed, the photo mode is not always possible. It would be difficult if not impossible for anything with a fixed-camera perspective (i.e. strategy games). But some very interesting games would benefit greatly from including a photo mode.
9 Atlas Fallen
Fantasy games can be appealing to virtual photographers, due to the ability to take pictures of imaginary worlds and strange creatures that inhabit them. Focus Entertainment's Atlas Fallen is no exception to that rule. The presence of a photo mode has not been confirmed or denied, but it does take place in a distinct post-apocalyptic fantasy world that would be great for virtual photographers.
The game includes a vast desert, lots of ancient ruins, and a variety of characters and monsters, plus a superpowered hero. How can this not be a great setup for including a photo mode?
8 Assassin's Creed Mirage
Assassin's Creed games started including photo mode with Origins and continued to do so in Odyssey and Valhalla. All three games are among the most popular choices for virtual photographers. It would therefore make sense for Ubisoft to include it in Mirage. The game might be scaled back compared to its predecessors, but it still lets the player explore the world of medieval Baghdad.
Based on the pattern of the Assassin's Creed series, that probably includes visiting real locations, meeting real historical figures, and participating in historical events, all of which have great photographic potential. Then of course there is the action and the interesting characters that tend to come with Assassin's Creed. Ubisoft has been pretty good at putting photo modes into their more recent games, so a lot of fans will be disappointed if they decide to break the trend now.
7 Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Ubisoft's upcoming open-world Avatar adventure promises a chance to freely explore James Cameron's famous alien world, Pandora. In a game with such a peculiar world full of truly bizarre creatures, it would almost be criminal not to include a photo mode. Although players can find, and photograph strange alien life in a few other sci-fi games, they don't have anything quite like the world of Avatar.
There are also going to be sweeping alien vistas and plenty of action that would make great photos. Or players could combine those subjects. The protagonist gets to ride her own Ikran, so there'd certainly be opportunities to take cool shots of aerial stunts over Pandora.
6 Clockwork Revolution
Clockwork Revolution is a peculiar science fiction dystopia that brings players into a Victorian-inspired steampunk world... that they then proceed to tear down by manipulating its history. The city alone sounds like a great place to get some cool shots. This is an environment full of interesting buildings, automatons, and curious steampunk vehicles that would all make amazing subjects, plus there is plenty of action and some interesting character designs.
The game also has an interesting aspect where the city changes as the player progresses, allowing opportunities to revisit possible subjects and capture them in a new light; for instance, illustrating the mayhem caused by the player's antics. Even the trailer takes advantage of this part.
5 Fable
Playground Studios' reboot of the popular RPG seriesFable returns fans to the fantasy world of Albion, a strange chaotic world of magic and mystery. According to the Fable trailer, players can certainly expect a lot of bizarre and quirky antics from this world that would make great virtual photography.
There are action scenes, fantasy creatures, incredible landscapes, and, apparently, a gigantic Richard Ayoade who may or may not be a boss fight. With the popularity of photo modes in video games and the opportunity for such strange imagery, it only feels appropriate to include a photo mode to capture some of the game's fantastical elements.
4 Squirrel With A Gun
This quirky indie game is exactly what the title says. It revolves around a squirrel who gets access to firearms. How is this not a great setup for virtual photography? Gameplay already includes lots of action scenes that would make great shots. There could be some great opportunities to photograph shootouts with the "agents" who act as the game's antagonists, but there are other interesting ways to make use of the weird setup.
Another big part of the gameplay for Squirrel With a Gun is performing stuntwork with firearms that would also make great photos. Players could even make great shots out of showing off newly acquired weapons. And that's not even getting into the mayhem and destruction the squirrel protagonist can cause.
3 S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl
GSC's update to the popular first-person shooter series promises to return players to the Chernobyl exclusion zone. The game will allow exploration of a post-apocalyptic environment full of destruction, strange anomalies, and interesting characters, so it would make sense to include a photo mode. Post-apocalyptic environments can certainly provide some interesting photographic opportunities.
The inclusion of a photo mode proved an excellent addition to similarly-themed games in recent years such as Metro Exodus and Chernobylite, the latter of which also shares a setting with S.T.A.L.K.E.R., so it seems reasonable that there would be an interest in virtual photography here.
2 Starfield
It's outer space, how much more needs to be said? Adventures in space can be really fun opportunities for virtual photography when it is available. Science fiction games like No Man's Sky, and Mass Effect Legendary Edition provide some great opportunities for amazing shots of spaceships, astronauts, sci-fi technology, and aliens.
Starfield looks like it is going to have a lot of photo potential. Not a lot of games provide great opportunities for epic space shots, and Starfield looks like a game with great promise for a photo mode that will allow players to create some breathtaking shots.
1 Star Wars Outlaws
With the release of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, fans got to enjoy taking virtual photographs of the Star Wars galaxy, but there was a limit to how much could be done. Star Wars: Outlaws promises to change that, with a scope well beyond the Star Wars Jedi games. Star Wars: Outlaws has a lot more planets to explore, as well as opportunities to encounter interesting characters or strange alien creatures in an open-world setting. The nicely varied gameplay should leave room for a lot of options.
Players could take photos of Kay and try to get some cute shots of Nix. Action shots would certainly be a possibility, and there are opportunities for photos of vehicular chaos and epic stuntwork. There is also the fact that this Star Wars game has flight mechanics that could make it possible to take photographs in space.