Sony is reportedly reworking Horizon Hunters Gathering after the multiplayer project received poor feedback during private testing, dealing another blow to PlayStation’s troubled push into live-service gaming.
According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Guerrilla Games has been working on a reboot of the project since June. The studio is reportedly moving away from the game’s original live-service design and instead plans to turn it into a smaller co-op multiplayer with a story mode.
Horizon Hunters Gathering was announced in February as an online multiplayer game set in Guerrilla’s Horizon universe. The reveal received a tepid response from players, with its multiplayer focus and visual style marking a departure from the franchise’s previous games.
That direction could now be changing. Bloomberg reports that Guerrilla started working on a reboot in June after the game received poor feedback during private testing earlier this year. Now, the game would reportedly feature a story mode and operate on a much smaller scale than originally planned. The game has not been canceled, but its future remains uncertain.
Bloomberg’s sources claim Guerrilla told staff during a meeting on Wednesday that the team has until December to deliver a new milestone that can convince Sony executives to continue development. Many developers currently working on the project are also reportedly being reassigned to another game.
The reported changes to Horizon Hunters Gathering are the latest setback for Sony’s attempt to establish a stronger presence in the live-service market.
PlayStation spent much of the PS5 generation investing heavily in online games, with Sony previously targeting more than a dozen live-service releases during the decade. The strategy was intended to complement the company’s successful single-player franchises with games that could generate revenue through continued updates and player spending.
Instead, a number of those projects have been canceled, delayed, or significantly reworked.
Sony has reportedly canceled live-service projects based on major franchises including The Last of Us. The company also shut down Firewalk Studios following the commercial failure of Concord, while other PlayStation teams have faced restructuring and layoffs.
Sony’s $3.6 billion acquisition of Bungie in 2022 was partly intended to strengthen its live-service ambitions. Bungie has since experienced its own struggles, including layoffs and changes to its plans for Destiny 2. Its new extraction shooter Marathon has also reportedly struggled to meet expectations.
The reported Horizon reboot suggests Sony is becoming increasingly willing to reconsider how its biggest single-player franchises are being adapted for multiplayer.
The situation is particularly notable for Guerrilla, which built the Horizon franchise around large-scale single-player adventures. Horizon Zero Dawn launched in 2017 and became one of PlayStation’s biggest new properties, followed by Horizon Forbidden West in 2022. The sequel ended on a cliffhanger, leaving players expecting another major entry in the series.
Instead, much of Guerrilla’s development effort reportedly shifted toward Horizon Hunters Gathering, a departure from the studio’s previous work. A small team has reportedly continued planning the next single-player Horizon game, but Bloomberg’s sources claim that project is still years away from release.
For now, the game remains in development, but its reported December milestone could prove crucial. If the reboot fails to convince Sony’s executives, the project could face the same fate as several other live-service experiments that have already disappeared from PlayStation’s plans.
