Guerrilla Games finally revealed its long-rumored co-op Horizon project, Horizon Hunters Gathering, for PS5 and PC today. And if the appearance of Aloy and Rost didn’t give it away, this is very much part of the universe. On the PlayStation Blog, game director Arjan Bak confirmed it’s “fully canon” and promised even more story content post-launch.
“These Hunters have their own motivations and personal struggles, which comes together in new stories we want to tell in the world of Horizon,” he said about the roster of new playable characters. “The game has a narrative campaign which will introduce new mysteries, characters, and threats, but we’re keeping it under wraps for now. What we can say is that Hunters Gathering is fully canon and its story doesn’t stop at launch!”
Of course, given how Horizon Forbidden West ended, you have to wonder how much it’s really going to matter when Horizon 3 launches. Regardless, this is the second multiplayer-centric Horizon project on the way, with NCSoft also working on Horizon Steel Frontiers. Guerrilla clearly wants to expand the universe in other directions and genres, so we’ll see how things pan out.
Horizon Hunters Gathering will feature four environments at launch, with players venturing through forests, plains, and even replayable Cauldrons to take on the Machines. While you’ll team up with two other players, the key difference from the other mainline Horizon games is that they each have unique abilities and playstyles. Some are ranged; others are melee-focused, and each can be assigned a different sub-role to bolster the team.
A release date has yet to be confirmed, but Horizon Hunters Gathering will have a closed playtest by the end of February with three playable characters available.