Monster Hunter World Devs Talk Horizon Zero Dawn and Future Crossovers

Crossovers are not new to video games, especially in this day and age. From Super Smash Bros to the upcoming Blazblue: Cross Tag Battle, there's a ton of titles on the market where fan-favorite characters pop up in franchises they fit well into (and even some where they do not). In Monster Hunter World, that particular cameo slot is going to Aloy, the heroine of Horizon Zero Dawn. During an interview with IGN, Monster Hunter World directors Kaname Fujioka and Yuya Tokuda explained how the collaboration came to be, and why they knew Aloy would fit right into their wild world.

The directors explained that the whole thing began when producer Ryozo Tsujimoto reached out to the developers of Horizon Zero Dawn, Guerilla Games, and publisher Sony. Tsujimoto reportedly suggested to the studios that Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn would fit well into the setting of Monster Hunter World, due to the fact that she is "also a hunter with a bow and arrow," and both studios returned with a "positive" response. "We heard in the past that Guerrilla Games have said that Monster Hunter was actually one of the inspirations behind Horizon Zero Dawn which made us very proud to hear. We played Horizon Zero Dawn and we really love it and think its a fantastic game. So both sides were just really positive about bringing this collab content out and thanks to the support of Guerrilla Games and Sony we've been able to successfully implement it."

For the unacquainted, Aloy's cameo isn't exactly as it sounds. Players will be able to collect her head-to-toe armor, including a make-over to mimic her face, and upgrade their Palicoes to look like the machines from Horizon Zero Dawn.

While future crossovers aren't exactly planned as of yet, the directors do have picks if it ever comes up again.The directors mentioned that they "would love to see Arsus from World of Warcraft and the Lich King from The Wrath of the Lich King," but fans of the characters might want to wait a little before getting excited, because there are no plans to include them in the game as of yet.

Monster Hunter World will release for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on January 26th. There are no plans for a Nintendo Switch release.

Source: IGN