Horizon 3 Release Still Years Away—Guerrilla Focusing on Horizon Hunters Gathering

Something new has been learned about what will happen with the Horizon series. Fans may have to wait longer than they thought for Horizon 3. After Horizon Hunters Gathering was announced, a trusted industry source shared more details about Guerrilla Games' current development plans. The report makes it clear what the studio is working on right now. 

News from Push Square says that instead of working on the next main single-player game, most of Guerrilla Games' workers are working on Horizon Hunters Gathering, the new co-op project. A Bloomberg writer broke the news. From what he said, Horizon Hunters Gathering is now the studio's major project in terms of how much time and money it spends on making games.

Horizon 3 will still happen, but it won't be for a while. 

A reporter talked about the Horizon series on the social networking site BlueSky and answered questions about it. He said Horizon 3 would not be out for a long time yet. It seems the co-op game has become the major focus, since he said Horizon Hunters Gathering is getting "most of the studio's attention" right now. This fits with what he said before, that Horizon Hunters Gathering was Guerrilla Games' "next big project."

We must understand what this change means and what it does not mean. The company behind Horizon 3 has said in the past that it is in the works, so the sequel has not been dropped or not thought about at all. It looks like most of the studio's production power is being used for something else right now, though there may still be work going on behind the scenes. Horizon 3 is going more slowly now, and it won't be out for another few years.

You might be surprised, since Horizon: Forbidden West came out in early 2022. It looked like Horizon 3 would be well into production by then, and the release date might have been set for 2027. But from what the report says, it sounds like those goals were maybe too high. The way things are now, Horizon 3 might not come out until 2028 or even 2029. There is also growing talk that it could be a PlayStation 6 game.

There is another level to the conversation when Guerrilla Games talks about Horizon Hunters Gathering. 

The company discussed the game on the PlayStation Blog, saying it is "early on in development" and that people can now sign up to be players in early tests. It sounds like the project has been in the works since around 2018, which might confuse some people about the language used. " Early in development" usually means a project is just starting, but the long development time frame makes me think of something more involved.

Guerrilla says the game is still in its early stages of development, which could mean it's changing more than it is being made. Making games that are meant to be played with other people takes a long time to balance, test development loops, and make changes to co-op features. It makes sense to try the game early, even if it has been in the works for a long time.

Still, many people don't like this change. There might not be as much to enjoy in this game if you mostly enjoy Aloy's journey, the story in single-player mode, and the huge worlds they create. It can be annoying to think that Horizon 3 is on hold, even if it's only for a short time, after the long wait for Forbidden West.

We should also consider how this change fits with PlayStation Studios's broader goals. Over the past few years, there has been a clear move toward live-service and online games. Horizon Hunters Gathering fits right in with this pattern. So Sony might reallocate resources, even for a well-known series like Horizon. That doesn't mean they don't care about single-player games, but it does explain why.

One project at a time can be worked on by the whole company, speeding up development. 

However, this may mean that other games have to wait longer. Guerrilla Games is known for making games that look great and work well on computers. That could be hurt if they split their teams up too much. It doesn't always help to know this when you want to play a fully realized single-player Horizon trip again.

Horizon Hunters Gathering is clearly the studio's main project at the moment. While Horizon Hunters Gathering is still being worked on, the next part of Aloy's story will likely stay in the background. Keep an eye out for future updates and hold off on your hopes for now. We hope that the extra time will make Horizon 3 something truly special when it finally comes out.