Report clarifies confusion around Horizon Steel Frontiers, signaling a major shift in Guerrilla Games’ development pipeline.
New reports say Horizon 3 may be delayed longer than initially thought, making the release window for Sony’s Horizon games more difficult. According to a new report, the newly announced MMO Horizon Steel Frontiers, which was developed by NCSoft, has nothing to do with Guerrilla Games’ long-running Horizon project.
The report said many people thought the MMO project and Guerrilla’s multiplayer game were the same thing, when they weren’t. He did say, though, that the NCSoft MMO is not connected, and that the Guerilla project, first rumored in 2018, is being seen as the studio’s next big release, not a side project. This difference is very important for Horizon 3’s schedule, which fans have frequently called “a ways off.”
The online spin-off has been in development for about 7 years, and it was once expected to come out this year. Early rumors even said the game might have started out as a Killzone or SOCOM reboot before it changed into a Horizon-based game. But as the news spread, it became clearer that fans shouldn’t expect the game to happen anytime soon.
People have compared this to how Naughty Dog handled The Last of Us Part II, a multiplayer game the company initially saw as a big standalone release before shelving the project. Guerilla seems to be going in the same direction, giving the multiplayer game the same level of attention and care that is usually saved for a big-budget single-player game.
Are we going to have to wait longer for Horizon 3?
According to the 2024 report, Horizon 3 was already in development but wasn’t even close to being ready for release. At that point, a release date in 2027 still seemed likely, since the series usually takes five years between major games (Zero Dawn (2017) to Forbidden West (2022), and maybe Forbidden West to Horizon 3 (2027).
However, Horizon Online isn’t expected to come out until at least 2026, which makes the future less certain. If Guerilla keeps prioritizing finishing and supporting the online project, Horizon 3 could easily be delayed until 2028 or later.
There is still reason to be hopeful. Since Guerrilla has more than one internal team, a delay in the multiplayer game doesn’t necessarily mean that Horizon 3 will be late. Technically, a 2027 release could still happen if the main team stays on track.
