It appears PlayStation is facing another uphill battle with its latest multiplayer endeavor. Over the weekend, closed testing concluded for Horizon Hunters Gathering, a cooperative title set in the Horizon universe featuring a stylized, cartoonish aesthetic.
While securing an invitation wasn’t particularly difficult, the Steam engagement metrics are raising eyebrows. Peak concurrent players on PC reached a mere 561, and by Sunday evening, the active player count had plummeted to just 226.
Some online screenshots claiming high engagement proved misleading, as they were captured during server maintenance windows. Regardless, the sharp downward trend over a single weekend is a worrying sign for Guerrilla Games. While Sony likely expects a larger turnout on PS5, console-specific data remains unavailable.
The situation was further complicated by the simultaneous playtest of Bungie’s Marathon, which attracted over 143,000 users during the same window. PlayStation’s smaller project was effectively left in the shadows.
These results cast doubt on the strategy of investing in niche spin-offs derived from blockbuster intellectual properties.