Can it not be made this simple?

[Petrolsmasher]

It seems they spent years creating these open world driving games/fighting games etc.

But can they not drive around with something like a google earth van and capture 3d imaging of the area they want to base a game in and not have to build every single building?

[Steve Evil]

I think it comes down to rights in a lot of respects. I know that for Spider-Man on the PS4 which does feature a lot of real-life New York landmarks that they had to get rights from the building owners to feature them in the game, hence why you often get a lot of lookalike buildings.

[Monty Python]

A lot of the times they do, but they still have to convert those images into a digital format that can be rendered in-game.

[parabolica]

Monty Python said:

A lot of the times they do, but they still have to convert those images into a digital format that can be rendered in-game.

Not to mention that every aspect of the 'real world' wouldn't necessarily translate into good game design.