Horizon Forbidden West’s makers are at work on ‘separate Online Project’

Guerrilla Games, makers of the Horizon series of open-world, post-apocalyptic adventures for PlayStation, is working on a “separate Online Project” set in that series’ universe, the studio said in a tweet Friday morning.

Guerrilla shared the news in an open call for designers to apply for the studio’s “Single-Player (SP), Online Project (OP), and External Project (EP) teams.” The studio needs three dozen developers for those three teams, including lead designers for combat, systems, and quests, plus a narrative designer and principal writer, for the Horizon online project.

Polygon has reached out to a Sony Interactive Entertainment representative for additional clarification on Guerrilla’s plans for the franchise.

In November, a Korean financial news site reported that NCSoft and Sony (which owns Amsterdam-based Guerrilla Games) had reached an agreement to develop an MMO set within the Horizon canon — which could be the “external project” referenced in Friday morning’s tweet.

Though SIE has confirmed nothing, PlayStation fans have followed recent multiplayer developments for first-party titles like Ghost of Tsushima and a stand-alone, multiplayer version of 2020’s The Last of Us Part 2, expecting the same treatment would come to Horizon.

The online project Guerrilla is pursuing will feature “a new cast of characters and a unique stylized look,” the studio said in its tweet. “Friends will be able to explore the majestic wilds of Horizon together.”

Horizon Forbidden West, the sequel to 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn, launched for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in February. An expansion, Burning Shores, was announced at last week’s The Game Awards and is due to launch April 19, for PS5 only. The only other confirmed game coming from the Horizon franchise is Horizon Call of the Mountain, a launch title for PlayStation VR2, which goes on sale Feb. 22.