New Intel Suggests Horizon Hunters Gathering Is Bad News for Horizon 3

PlayStation recently announced a brand-new game in the Horizon series, but not the game many fans were hoping for. Horizon Hunters Gathering is a new “tactical co-op action game” from Guerrilla. And its announcement came without much in the way of a release timeline. The game is certainly a new direction for the franchise, taking what has largely been a single-player IP and giving it the multiplayer treatment. But regardless of how you feel about this new installment, you’re likely wondering what this means for Horizon 3. And it may not be good news.

Since Guerrilla and PlayStation revealed Horizon Hunters Gathering, many of us have been wondering how this impacts the next main series installment. Though the Sony game has seen some spin-offs in recent years, it’s been a while since Horizon Zero Dawn launched in 2022. Along with the upcoming MMORPG Horizon Steel Frontiers, it seems like multiplayer experiences could be a focus for the franchise over the next few years. And recent comments from industry insider Jason Schreier suggest we shouldn’t be hoping to see Horizon 3 for quite some time.

The Horizon Team Reportedly Focused on Horizon Hunters Gathering Over Next Main Installment

Like many folks in the gaming world, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier shared the trailer for Horizon Hunters Gathering, along with some early thoughts. In response, a few Horizon fans took the opportunity to ask the industry insider a few questions about the game and Guerrilla’s plans for the Horizon franchise. And his response to one key question could mean it’ll be several more years before we get even a hint of Horizon 3.

Bluesky user @OkamiGames asked Schreier whether the co-op action game is being made by a separate team from those working on Horizon 3. And in response, Schrier said, “I believe most of the studio is on this.” The “this” here is, presumably, Horizon Hunters Gathering. In other words, the co-op game could be Guerrilla’s primary focus at the moment, despite some fans assuming a smaller team was working on the spinoff.

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If most of the team at Guerrilla is indeed focused on Horizon Hunters Gathering, that likely means not much progress is being made with Horizon 3. Given that we don’t yet have a release window for the co-op game, it’s unclear if it will release this year or later down the line. And that could mean Horizon 3 is even further off than prior rumors suggested. For those hoping that Horizon 3 isn’t too far behind the co-op game, this could be bad news. That said, this statement isn’t necessarily cold, hard fact. Schreier does use “I believe” here, indicating it’s not 100% certain that most of the team who would be making Horizon 3 is instead working on Hunters Gathering.

Whether or not it means a longer wait for Horizon 3, fans are now looking at 2 new games in the works for the popular PlayStation franchise. And both are quite a departure from the solo-focused experience that many of us appreciate from the first two main-series Horizon games. Horizon Steel Frontiers is an MMORPG, and the newly revealed Horizon Hunters Gathering has a co-op focus. This direction is already proving pretty divisive among the existing Horizon playerbase. Some are just excited to have new ways to engage, while others just want to see a return to what they love and expect from Horizon.

As of now, Guerrilla hasn’t revealed its timeline for Horizon Hunters Gathering or for Horizon Horizon Steel Frontiers, which is being developed by NCSoft, also still doesn’t have a specific release date. Basically, there’s a lot up in the air for Horizon fans right now, including the potential release window for Horizon 3.

What do you think of the newly revealed multiplayer Horizon game? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!