After its announcement earlier this year for PS5 and PC, Horizon Hunters Gathering is apparently being rebooted. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reports that work began last June following “negative player feedback” to closed playtests held earlier this year.
Instead of pursuing a live-service model, the action RPG is allegedly stripping this away and focusing on a more “traditional” co-op experience. There’s still a Story Mode, but it’s apparently “far smaller” in scope, which makes you wonder if that’s affected post-launch plans to expand on the story.
The failure of Concord has significantly altered Sony’s live-service initiative, with several projects cancelled (including titles from Bend Studio and the since-shuttered Bluepoint Games). While Horizon Hunters Gathering allegedly isn’t in danger of being canned, Guerrilla Games has until December to “impress executives.” That sure sounds like the results could determine whether it launches at all.
It also seems that “many” developers will be moved to another project, though that’s reportedly up for evaluation before 2026 ends. Perhaps the next single-player Horizon game? Regardless, we’re left wanting for details, especially after Schreier reported that the majority of Guerrilla was working on Hunters Gathering and that Horizon 3 is years off from release.
If it’s any consolation, a “tiny team” has apparently been “plotting out” the sequel. However, it’s still “years away from completion.” Even if Sony hasn’t decided a release date for the PlayStation 6 amid rising memory costs, the next step of Aloy’s journey will most likely skip this generation. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming months.
