Over the weekend, leaked alpha footage of multiplayer for the Horizon series released online.
Guerrilla Games previously said it explored the idea of co-op for Horizon Zero Dawn, but later scrapped it. The 12-minute video and screenshots, which date back to summer 2020, are the first real glimpse of what multiplayer would look like in the otherwise single-player RPG franchise.
Guerrilla said it was making a co-op spinoff for Horizon in December 2022, and confirmed it would have a “unique, stylized look.” The spinoff is being headed up by a new internal team at the developer, while another team is developing third single-player Horizon entry.
The footage definitely fits the “stylized look” description above, as its cartoonish art style is similar to Fortnite, and a marked difference from the franchise’s photorealistic style. Purported concept art for the project showing humans fighting machine animals similarly matches the look of the footage.
Also featured in that leaked footage was an option to “join PC” or “join PS4,” indicating that cross-play may be in the cards for the project.
Last year, there were also rumblings of an MMORPG for the Horizon universe being in development at NCSoft, but it’s not clear if that alleged game and this co-op one are separate or not. Either way, they’re both clear indicators of Sony’s larger plans to enter the live service space.
At time of writing, Guerrilla hasn’t commented on the leaked footage.