Guerrilla Games has revealed its long-simmering multiplayer title set within the world of Horizon Zero Dawn/Forbidden West. The game is called Horizon Hunters Gathering, and it’s coming to PlayStation 5 and PC.
Horizon Hunters Gathering is a co-op action game set in the American West, where up to three players assume the roles of Hunters who must protect the world from deadly machines. This involves going out on hunts to track and dismantle machines in combat that Guerrilla describes as “tactical, reactive, and deeply skill-based.” The game also sports a more stylized art direction, more akin to an animated film.
The roster consists of three Hunters (though this roster will grow over time) with distinct playstyles and weapons, both melee and ranged. One character wields a giant rocket-powered hammer, another Hunter slays foes with a spear, while the third uses a bow. Combat still involves targeting a machine’s specific body parts to dismantle it, and players can combine abilities to strategically coordinate their assaults. Think Horizon mixed with the cooperative dynamic of Monster Hunter, though the combat is much faster-paced and over-the-top than in a traditional Horizon title.
Hunters can be assigned classes such as healer or damage dealer, which changes their playstyles to favor either support, tank, or tactician. A roguelite build system allows players to assign one of several randomly earned perks while playing. Surviving a run will mean finding the best combination of perks and upgrades.
Players will get to know these personalities in a narrative campaign. This story mode can be played solo with NPCs or alongside friends, and it is fully canon to the universe. Expect to meet new characters and unravel new mysteries, and Guerrilla promises this story will be expanded over time with new adventures and narrative beats.
Four large maps will be available at launch. At the center is a social hub called Hunters Gathering. Here, you can connect with friends, customize characters, visit shops, and upgrade gear.
In addition to the campaign, two multiplayer modes have been revealed: Machine Incursion and Cauldron Descent. Machine Incursion sees players battle waves of machines led by a powerful boss as a ring slowly closes in to tighten the playfield. Cauldron Descent is a multi-stage challenge set within the series’ dungeon-like Cauldrons. Players choose which paths to take to explore deeper underground, which can pit them against enemies, take them on a platforming-focused obstacle course, or lead them to hidden doors with secret rewards.
Horizon Hunters Gathering supports cross-play between PS5 and PC as well as cross-progression, provided you’re playing using the same PlayStation account. Players can get their first sample of the game in an upcoming closed playtest. This small-scale test will be available on PS5 and PC and begins at the end of this month. You can sign up via the PlayStation Beta Program.
For fans wondering about how this new game affects the status of a presumably in-development third mainline Horizon game, Guerrilla studio director Jan-Bart Van Beek made it clear at the start of the announcement video that Horizon Hunters Gathering does not signal a shift away from creating single-player experiences:
“…I want to be clear about one thing. We absolutely love making single-player games, and we’re going to keep making them. They’re a huge part of who we are as a studio. But next to that, we have this long-standing dream to try to do something different: our own take on how to explore the world of Horizon together as a team of machine hunters.”
Today’s news should not be confused with Horizon Steel Frontiers, a recently announced MMORPG set within the Horizon universe and being developed by NCSoft for PC and mobile. That game also has no release window.
We’ve been hearing murmurs about Horizon Hunters Gathering for years now, so it’s nice to finally see this project come to light. It will be interesting to see if Guerrilla can successfully translate its single-player open-world series into a successful multiplayer title, the way that Elden Ring Nightreign managed to last year. What do you think of Horizon Hunters Gathering? Let us know in the comments.
