Despite them being god's own genre by any objective metric, barely anyone makes immersive sims these days. That is, aside from Raphael Colantonio—the imsim Hiroo Onoda—and the half of Arkane that Microsoft didn't kill. Even then, the latter is making a game with Blade brand on it rather than something based in the original worlds it's known for. It just seems like people don't want games that offer the wide flexibility of approach and player creativity (nor, admittedly, the often attendant jank) that comes with them.
So it seems unlikely we're gonna get a big-budget immersive sim thing to write home about any time soon. But who needs them? The Steam Autumn Sale is currently underway and, by my counting, you can catch up on the greatest examples of the genre (and some of the greatest games ever made) for a pittance. I'll start off with the obvious stuff, but I'll tuck some games down below you might not have heard of, even if you're an imsim stalwart.
