Guerrilla Games and Sony’s popular open-world sci-fi franchise, Horizon, already has one confirmed spin-off in the works, a brand new VR adventure for PSVR 2. But now a new report claims Sony is working with NCSoft on an MMO set within the universe as last year’s Horizon: Forbidden West.
Horizon: Zero Dawn, released in 2017, kickstarted the entire franchise, which has quickly grown into one of Sony’s biggest successes of the PS4 era. The first game and its sequel are both open-world action games set in a post-apocalyptic future where humanity was nearly wiped off the planet and robot creatures roam wild. And while neither game included co-op or any online features, it seems a future Horizon project might be entirely focused on multiplayer.
As first reported by MTN, a South Korean financial news site, sources close to NCSoft and Sony explained that the two companies had entered into an agreement to create a new online game at NCSoft based on Sony’s IP, Horizon. As translated by Google, the report claims the game has started early development and that Sony and NCsoft are continuing to discuss their partnership and how to create the game, suggesting Sony could help out with development.
The MTN report says the still-in-development MMO sports the codename “Project H” and that NCSoft is currently using that name in job ads as it begins to staff up to support the large project. NCSoft previously published the MMO Guild Wars and has developed its own online games as part of the Lineage series.
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Kotaku reached out to Sony about the Horizon MMO supposedly in the works but has yet to hear back. MTN reported that NCSoft provided this comment to them about the rumoured MMO: “It is difficult to confirm information about unpublished projects that are currently under development.”
VGC also reports that Sony has always wanted to “expand Horizon into multiplayer” and that initially both Horizon: Zero Dawn and its 2021 sequel, Forbidden West, were planned at one point to include co-op. But both times the feature was cut for various reasons. A source told VGC that these multiplayer features could return in Horizon 3 or an online-focused spin-off, which sounds a lot like this reported MMO.
Of course, until Sony confirms it actually is developing and publishing a Horizon MMO, it’s impossible to say for sure. Even if the report is accurate, which it seems to be, it could be cancelled in a few months or years, never to see the light of day. But don’t worry, there’s plenty more Horizon-themed content coming down the pipeline, including a TV show, a VR spin-off, and possibly a remake of the original game for PS5 ala the recent Last of Us Part 1 remake.
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