gaming

Sony orders Guerilla to reboot Horizon Hunters Gathering after poor playtests

Guerilla Games is reworking Horizon Hunters Gathering from a live-service co-op action game into a smaller-scope, story-driven co-op title after three playtests earlier this year produced negative player feedback. Sony gave the studio several months to complete the reboot and set a December milestone that the team must impress or risk cancellation. Most developers on the project were reassigned to other work while a small Guerilla team continues development on the next single-player Horizon game. The change follows a string of Sony cancellations of live-service spinoffs and signals a retreat from large live-service investments.

• Three playtests earlier this year generated negative player feedback; one test overlapped Marathon’s server slam weekend.
• Sony instructed Guerilla to convert Horizon Hunters Gathering from a live-service co-op to a smaller, story-focused co-op game and granted several months for the reboot.
• The studio must meet a milestone in December to convince Sony executives; failure could lead to project cancellation.
• Most developers on Horizon Hunters Gathering were moved to other projects and a small team at Guerilla is working on the next single-player Horizon title.