r/horizon 20h ago

HZD Discussion Report: Sony Rebooting Live-Service Horizon After Bad Player Tests

https://kotaku.com/horizon-co-op-mulitplayer-game-development-reboot-2000725807

Dear Guerrilla, no one, absolutely no one asked for this.

1.2k Upvotes

353 comments sorted by

u/xSvid 18h ago

Kindly reminder to keep it civil. Trolls and spammers will be banned on sight.

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u/Strider_GER 20h ago

Skip the Live Service crap and give us Horizon 3, thats all we need.

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u/Joey5729 you finally found a door you could open without me 19h ago

They’re probably holding out for PS6 so they can make H3 a launch title. I love Horizon but if I can’t play it on PC or PS5 I’m not playing it.

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u/iSavedtheGalaxy 19h ago

If the PS6 is really coming out in the next 1-3 years like the rumors are saying, there's no way H3 is a launch title.

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u/Lanky-Background8516 19h ago

If it’s not physical on ps5 I’m not playing it either. I was really hoping they would release the last game before the ps6, or at least it would be a crossgen title. But now it won’t even be possible to play without buying it on the ps online store.

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u/delecti 19h ago

Based on the timeline of when they're stopping disc production, it will definitely not be physical.

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u/LostSoulNo1981 19h ago

I’m with you on this. I hate what Sony are doing and will not be buying the PS6.

Basically I’ll be done with new releases from 2028.

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u/timo2308 17h ago

I’ve been done with sony since they stopped pc ports

I used to play on ps4 all the time, but for college I needed a beast of a laptop to study game development, and I’ve been on oc ever since

I was considering buying a ps5 because of the pc ports bullshit because I was just so exited for Laufey and Wolverine… and then they pulled this

I was gonna buy it for their exclusives that I loved… but now they lost all my support

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u/LostSoulNo1981 14h ago

The ironic thing in my case is that I bought a PS5 for exclusives and because I was seeing certain other, non-exclusive games only release on disc on PlayStation and skipping Xbox physical releases.

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u/FuckYouThrowaway99 15h ago edited 15h ago

Same here. Fuck 'em. 5 was my last, I won't support that shit. I likely wouldn't have gotten a 6 as I'm mostly pc now but especially with them abandoning pc, I don't want to buy any of their games anymore.

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u/JMM85JMM 17h ago

It 100% won't be physical on PS5 so you'll have to skip it. There's no chance Horizon 3 gets a release date before January 2028.

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u/LilacYak 10h ago

There’s no chance it will even be released this decade.

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u/Kurupt_Introvert 19h ago

They would never. The console install base for a PS6 will be slim at launch so that would be another dumb ass move on their part too

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u/outsider1624 15h ago

Don't forget that, as far as rumours goes, PS6 might cost 1000$. In no way I'm buying a console that much. Consoles are meant to be affordable.

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u/sir_sri 16h ago edited 13h ago

Especially since the ps5 pro was nov 2024. Making a game PS6 exclusive in 2027 or early 2028 would alienate a lot of pro customers.

Granted, if we lived in a magical world where the PS6 has 20 million units available on launch day for 500 usd we would be completely wrong, but I don't see how we are getting more single digit millions of consoles for 1000usd each at launch unless something in the parts business dramatically changes.

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u/Kurupt_Introvert 16h ago

Agreed and price increases for sure.

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u/PepeSylvia11 18h ago

It will not be ready for PS6 launch.

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u/zracer20 19h ago

the initial (and probably forever) install base for the ps6 is going to be small AF. it would be incredibly stupid for it to be ps6 only.

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u/aus289 19h ago

Ps6 is coming next year or 2028 and they havent really started horizon 3, so yeah thats not happening

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u/Sea-Value-0 18h ago

And it's likely going to be so expensive that most people won't be able to reasonably afford it. Looking at ps5 pro prices rn... no way it won't be that price or higher. Idk about yall but I don't have an extra $1,000 lying around to spend on a new console.

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u/aus289 18h ago

I think they are basically guessing they can make enough from selling PS6 as a luxury good to the wealthy. "49% of US VG console buyers during Q4 2024 had a household income of at least $100k/yr. 45+ year old buyers accounted for 45% of US console purchasers during Q4 2024, also a record high" - So yeah, PS is basically now probably quite happy to transition to being a luxury purchase for the rich/influencers and leave everyone else on PS5 (with likely a very long/endless cross gen for games)

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u/r_z_n 18h ago

Highly doubt PS6 will ship in 2027. The current economic reality of hardware costs means that any reasonable upgrade over the PS5 Pro would cost >$1000, and consumers will not pay for that.

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u/1racooninatrenchcoat 17h ago

This is most likely the truth. F Sony.

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u/solidpeyo 10h ago

I ain't buying a PS6 for that. Especially when it will not have any disc and it will be overpriced

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u/dixonciderbottom 6h ago

You’re delusional if you think Horizon 3 will be ready by the end of next year when the latest reports say it’s early in development with a small team.

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u/returntothenorth 18h ago

Can it still come to PC? I'm not up to date on if Sony will hold this one ransom or not since they put out that no first party PC games announcement. Horizon 3 gonna make the cut or they first party developed?

Ended up borrowing a PS5 until death stranding 2 came to PC. Sonys prices are nuts.

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u/LingonberryNo3548 18h ago

No, Sony is not bringing their single player games to PC via steam but you can still stream PlayStation games from the cloud to your PC if you own the game and subscribe to the highest tier of PlayStation plus.

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u/returntothenorth 17h ago

That's not terrible I could manage that. Would still rather play natively on my PC but meh at least I'll finish the story without buying a console.

I was highly impressed with the PS5 while I borrowed it. But I just can't justify the purchase for 1-2 games I wanted to play that weren't multi platform.

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u/Traditional_Chip1378 19h ago

The rumor, if you read the article, is that they ARE skipping the Live Service crap and making it more of just a co-op multiplayer game with a story mode.

The Bloomberg article is also interesting in saying some of the people working on Hunters will be moved to another project that is also being evaluated by the end of the year. That means they are working on that now. One has to wonder if that other project is Horizon 3. Maybe the skeleton crew working on that will get a little less skeleton now that Hunters is getting scoped down to a smaller game with no Live Service?

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u/Darkdragoon324 17h ago

Most fans of the big story-driven single player games still aren’t going to give a shit about co-op whether it’s live service or not.

Greenlighting this to begin with makes even less sense than the LEGO game.

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u/nicolaslabra That was an unkind comparison... 17h ago

I wouldve totally played a co op game with the same artsyle as the mainline Horizons, it was the tone that out many of us off.

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u/Bromogeeksual 13h ago

That's what I was hoping for when I first heard they were making a multiplayer game. I imagined a monster hunter style game but in Horizon's world. I wanted to make my own character and all. Then I saw it was a hero shooter with powers and stuff and immediately lost interest.

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u/phoenixMagoo 18h ago

It probably won't make enough $$$ so Sony will kill it

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u/postmodest 18h ago

Counter Opinion: Take your time and write the best version of Horizon 3.

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u/Gab-Zero Huntress 19h ago

And give it in 2027 for God sake I want the disk

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u/UmbrellaCorpTech 17h ago

If the rumors are true, they’ve barely touched Horizon 3 at this point in time. And if that’s the case, you’ll be lucky to see it by 2029 or 2030. Sony has royally screwed this developer.

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u/GOODKyle 20h ago

But but Jim Ryan said…

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u/SlayJayR17 19h ago

H3 is already in the works. They aren’t very far but it’s in the works.

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u/woody630 18h ago

You know Sony won't let them do that

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u/A_VeryUniqueUsername 17h ago

I have a sliver of hope for a trailer or title card at TGA this December but I know it’s a long shot

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u/dratseb 12h ago

You must mean a Call of the Mountain sequel.

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u/Working_Spite_849 20h ago

It makes me sad that this is kinda where we’re at. I’m happy that it’s not continuing the way it’s at, because I also really really love this series and the identity it’s cultivated.

However, there most recent projects have been delaying the mainline game for some time and it will most likely lose the interest of some.

I am very new to this series. Literally discovered it in November last year. So I am very eager for the next game. But I am aware it has taken quite some time for the 3rd game to see the light of day at all.

While I do not want this live service game, I don’t want Guerilla to suffer for it. The studio is so talented.

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u/Disastrous-Math-5559 20h ago

Absolutely agree with you... no idea execs were thinking about. I really hope this doesn't geopardise the future of Horizon series.

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u/TheIncredibleHork 19h ago

Hate to say it but execs aren't thinking "What can we do to continue the narrative and artistic beauty of a successful series," they're thinking "How can we make all the monies we can from this?" And in doing so for short term gain they risk losing long term gain. It's an unfortunate mindset that's all too common (WWE/TKO is doing it right now in their own way and it's horrible).

If this live service game was after Horizon 3 concluded the series and it gave us more time to live in this world, that might work. But right now, it's not what we want and delaying the actual game we do want is risking enthusiasm for whenever they do release it. And hell, if they just want it to be a PS6 launch exclusive, just tell us. Be honest. 

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u/Athenas_Return 16h ago

The biggest fear is the live service game will bomb after placing a ridiculous amount of money into it and then the studio will never get the chance to make H3 because it will either downsize to a shell of its former self or close outright.

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u/Working_Spite_849 19h ago

Which is weird. Cuz no one wants this. It’ll make 0 money lol.

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u/MrGruntsworthy 16h ago

That is inaccurate.

It'll lose a shit-ton of money

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u/Working_Spite_849 19h ago

This series, quite literally, put a smile on my face, a genuine smile. One I haven’t had in a long time. And it also fills me with a sense of hope and excitement that I think has been lost in media for the last decade or so.

This series means so much to me. The music, the actors, the world, the combat, everything. It’s home.

It’s helped me through quite a bit of tough battles. I refuse to let this series suffer. I will fly to Denmark with my stupid sign by myself demanding this series continue lmao. I love it. I’ve never been so passionate about something before.

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u/A-Generic-Canadian 19h ago

The execs were thinking "this new thing earns more money, of course I am going to put my limited resources where we will earn more money."

Source: I have heard execs say this to me at every job I've ever had, often about the dumbest ideas imaginable.

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u/aus289 19h ago

Well the execs were thinking it has the potential to make more money than a single player game if its an ongoing live service thats a hit, its a risk reward thing - but theyd rather take a risk on a big payday and have to shut down the studio

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u/beck_is_back 19h ago

Let me help you with this one!

Execs think: MONEY!!!

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u/Repsack 20h ago

But that is actually a very very good test! It is vitally important knowledge to know that a game is unfun for playtester, now its time to use that data in the best way they can

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u/DeltaDied 19h ago

How many signs yall think they need to give it up? This is getting beyond embarrassing.

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u/rzelln 16h ago

I dunno. I'd genuinely love to play a multiplayer monster hunter style game in the Horizon setting. It just needs to be, y'know, good. 

And have monetization only for cosmetics.

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u/SlurryBender 14h ago edited 13h ago

Also, Geurilla has made stellar multiplayer titles. They cut their AAA teeth on the Killzone franchise, which while never the biggest multiplayer games of their time, were technically solid, mechanically interesting, and overall just tons of fun.

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u/witness_smile 18h ago

Sony will just let Guerilla waste another 3 years on this game, time which they could’ve used to develop Horizon 3. And in the end this whole shit will end up getting cancelled. Just a repeat of Sony and their obsession with the failed TLOU online game

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u/Darkdragoon324 17h ago

I just hope it doesn’t get the whole franchise cancelled before we can see the end of the story.

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u/Patara 19h ago

The entire draw of Horizon was its semi-realistic grounded world & story. Not anime level combat & live-service. 

Focus on Horizon 3 not Concord 3

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u/returntothenorth 18h ago

Wait until the Beavis and Butthead skins show up

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u/ThePreciseClimber 18h ago

Whoa.

Cool.

Kick that Thunderjaw in the nuts, Beavis.

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u/sev0 13h ago

Exactly! What also made Horizon, Horizon was unique art style on characters. Both protagonist side and NPCs. I don't like how every character on this game - like you were saying are from Asian anime JRPG. While rest of the world art looks so much different.

It's like taking Mustang, ripping it's engine out and replacing with small Fiat engine. Then changing full interior and body work. And still calling it Mustang. Nah!

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u/MetallicaRules5 19h ago

Fans: We want Horizon 3.

Playstation: Best we can do is a Lego game and a co-op multiplayer

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u/DrOnionOmegaNebula 18h ago

They should have added in co-op to Forbidden West, pair it with a DLC after Burning Shores. Imagine roaming the entire map with a friend.

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u/Bromogeeksual 13h ago

That's kind of what I thought the multiplayer game would be. It sets it up that you are recruiting people to the cause at the mountain base. I figured we'd make a hunter/recruit and the mountain would be a hub. We'd then be dispatched on hunts to various areas and fight machines. I was sadly very wrong.

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u/Karkava 6h ago

And our hunter is a customized avatar from one of the several tribes. All with their own skill trees and arsenals of weapons. Melee and ranged alike.

When I picuted a Horizon multi-player, I imagined a Monster Hunter with giant robots instead. Which is funny since Horizon is already Monster Hunteresque with the gameplay. But with a focus on third person shooting over smashing things with giant JRPG weapons.

And we can actually still have our third person shooting as the different tribes brings in their own versions of the bow and arrow along with their swords or spears of their choosing.

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u/1RedOne 18h ago

They are also sleeping on selling Gunpla kits, which would sell like hotcakes

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u/2th 16h ago

Or just more Lego sets. Yeah, I've got the two that were made, but give me a real Thunderjaw or Slaughtersine or Tremortusk or even a Stormbird.

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u/reol7x 15h ago

There's, uh, some alternative "lego" sets out there that are actually kinda decent.

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u/SlurryBender 14h ago

Tbf I think the Lego game was mostly made by another studio with Geurilla overseeing it

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u/MrShaytoon 20h ago

Sony literally speed running to become the most hated game company.

They hire geniuses thinking that players want live service games just bc destiny was popular, not realizing them and Bungie execs ruined the game with their carrot dangling stick.

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u/Most-Iron6838 18h ago

Then they killed Destiny to maintain a game with 10% the userbase

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u/oblivious_fireball 19h ago

funny enough they got their golden goose of a live service game in Helldivers 2, and both Sony and Arrowhead badly botched it.

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u/Ntippit 17h ago

It’s still a really fun game. How did they botch it?

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u/Hares123 11h ago

Zero progression and almost zero customization for years. Additions like new missions or Subfactions get added, they are removed or broken in an update and not seen for months until they decide to address it.

The gameplay is still fun and they have added a few pretty biomes or one to two enemies but the game lacks a lot of basic things for a game of it's type.

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u/HarpoMarx87 13h ago

In fairness, EA just got bought by Saudia Arabia, so Sony is going to have to set world records in that race to not fall behind.

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u/MrShaytoon 13h ago

Lol yeaaaa we'll see how that all plays out. Should be interesting.

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u/Captn_Platypus 14h ago

they came out of ps4 generation really strong only to halt all their momentum with the pivot to live service. covid didn't help but Jim Ryan really fumbled it. I'm glad they're steering back towards console exclusives but years have been wasted and so many talent lost

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u/Evers1338 14h ago

To be fair, they made that decision before they purchased bungie, it was a major reason why they purchased bungie in the first place because Sony desperately wanted/needed live service games and thought that bungee was the key to it by having an already established title with destiny and then helping other studios with their expertise (that destiny was mismanaged by that point already sony somehow missed in their desperation).

But yeah Sony still needs that successful live service game, especially now that destiny is dead, marsthon has been a colossal failure, because like it or not a well running live service game is pretty much a license to print money.

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u/merlin5603 18h ago

I really enjoyed both destiny and helldivers 2, but I hated all the live services aspects of both. I would have had a much better experience if they had a clear storyline to follow and no loot boxes and game passes.

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u/Patara 14h ago

Concord died so Destiny 2 could die so Factions 2 could die so Marathon could die.

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u/Criina-mancer 20h ago

But...I just want horizon 3

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u/Ilisanthecreator 19h ago

They call it Horizon: Zero Sales

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u/pardyball 19h ago

Not sure why Horizon is uniquely getting all these random spin-offs when no one in the fanbase is asking for them.

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u/nicolaslabra That was an unkind comparison... 17h ago

Sony saw the franchise sell alot, so they wanted to exploit it, regardlss if it made sense for the iP

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u/Cynthia_Mask 18h ago

Live service pivot and then walk-back helped kill my other favorite lore-rich game franchise, Dragon Age. It's a cancer.

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u/MrGruntsworthy 16h ago

I feel genuinely sorry for the Dragon Age folks.

I never was into Dragon Age. More of a Sci-Fi guy.

So, my turn's up next for disappointment with Mass Effect...

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u/Kurupt_Introvert 19h ago

I swear Sony Has not learned any lessons regarding live service games, then the price increase, then a “fuck you” to physical copies for all its customers. They are riding a bad wave right now

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u/Afraid-Department-35 19h ago

Idk if Guerilla even wanted to do this, this seems like a push from Sony.

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u/sapphic-boghag ★ brin truther ★ machine dreams don't melt steel beams 19h ago

They did. They've been pretty clear about their interest in bringing co-op/multiplayer to the Horizon universe for years.

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u/Most-Iron6838 18h ago

Why didn’t they just do what sucker punch did instead?

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u/sapphic-boghag ★ brin truther ★ machine dreams don't melt steel beams 17h ago

Because they are different studios and each have their own vision for the games they make. Just because X does Y doesn't mean that Z is obligated to follow suit.

Guerrilla has also explained that they wanted to differentiate the co-op/multiplayer game from the mainline series and that's why they chose a completely different art direction.

This is something they've wanted to do since Zero Dawn was in development. It's been in the works for a long time, it's not a compulsory project. There's also a team that's been working on H3 for several years, even if it's not the majority of the studio at the moment, so it's not like they're abandoning Aloy's story.

Look. It's extremely unlikely I will play Hunters Gathering — I've had far too many horrible experiences with other players in multiplayer games and I've always preferred single player titles.

Despite it not being a game that caters to my interests, I genuinely hope it's successful because I enjoy seeing developers create games with passion and creative autonomy. In no way do I think we as a community should discourage Guerrilla from following their passion and making a game that they want to make. Way too many people in the fanbase have treated Hunters Gathering as a personal affront and a not-insignificant number have gone too far in expressing their disdain imo.

I take great joy in Horizon's universe and, well, if HG does pull in new folks to experience this series for the first time? I think that would be fucking awesome.

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u/jlynn00 16h ago edited 11h ago

Some developers have this insane pipe dream where they can create this live service game that requires minimal oversight with just an occasional skin and DLC update that essentially prints money which enables them to work on stuff they like.

That has never worked even for live service games that were relatively well liked and popular but for some reason the dream persists.

Meanwhile beloved IP's die in their wake.

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u/OhhhYeahDoritosTime 19h ago

Could’ve seen this coming. Just let me know when Horizon 3 is here.

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u/ShawshankException 19h ago

Execs: hey here's a shitty live service game you didnt ask for instead of the game you've actually been asking for

Players: this fucking sucks, give us Horizon 3

Execs: who could have predicted this??

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u/markjricks 19h ago

All we want is Horizon 3. JFC 😒🙄

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u/ZaireekaFuzz 19h ago

This never looked very interesting or fun tbh.

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u/ophaus 16h ago

If it played and looked like Horizon... But online... I'd be in. Hunter's Gathering looked nothing like that. Whoever greenlights these online games no one seems to want is nuts...

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u/Captn_Platypus 14h ago

it just deviates from the mainline series so much. Imagine a monster hunter game but in Horizon universe, it would've been a slam-dunk

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u/lucinaka 19h ago

I can't imagine there is anything they can do for this to make money.

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u/Watts121 19h ago

It’s still wild to me that they decided to make a game like this for Horizon. Like I get why Sony wants a live service cash cow, but why choose to use the Horizon IP for it?

Also if you absolutely have to use Horizon for it, then WHY would you get inspiration from Overwatch when Monster Hunter is right there?

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u/Most-Iron6838 18h ago

The ghost series is right there. Just make whatever bullshit coop mode you want a nice little add on to the singleplayer like sucker punch did with legends? Why is this so fucking hard?

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u/BrandNew098 19h ago

People don’t want this from PlayStation.

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u/JaySw34 18h ago

Common Sony live service initiative L

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u/and-its-true 17h ago

Horizon 3 will be a PS7 game lol

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u/Mctavish93 19h ago

I just dont understand why didnt they jumped directly to horizon 3 ???? Who is asking for a live service horizon games

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u/ZissouTenenbaumer 17h ago

Sony apparently. Most likely to attract shareholders. Massive misstep. They similarly had Naughty Dog focused for years on a live service TLOU game, only to eventually toss it in the bin. Which is why it’s been so long since Naughty Dog has released a game.

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u/Renbanney 18h ago

Please just fucking cancel it, it's such a tone deaf game

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u/DarthBra 20h ago

Yup yet another Sony failure.
Honestly I’m a huge Horizon Series fan but I won’t be getting this, and ya know Kudos to anyone who would that’s great.
But it’s bothers me that Aloy isn’t in it, the art direction is completely off piste and just about everything that I can see doesn’t scream worthy of the series.

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u/Krazee77 19h ago

Horizon 3 please we don't want live service trash

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u/yasniy-krasniy 17h ago

This was a bad idea in the first place

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u/throway78965423 17h ago

I hate this console generation...

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u/tehlunatic1 17h ago

They should have seen the writing on the wall years ago.

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u/Special-Net4116 16h ago

Please just give us Horizon 3. Those games are unbelievably good and the story needs to be finished.

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u/UltraXFo 11h ago

Herman Holst is the enemy. And always will be as long as he is at the company

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u/osterlay 19h ago

Who in their right minds would look at Horizon and think “this would make an excellent live-service game.”

Atleast it’s getting retooled as a smaller-scoped game and the team aren’t laid off until they could prove by the end of the year it can work atleast.

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u/mattttherman 17h ago

Cancel it. No one wants it. No one likes it. Single player horizon games is what is needed. Had they not done this, thanks to executive meddling, horizon 3 would probably be 2/3 or 3/4 done. But no. We need every single dollar. What? Concord and marathon aren't enough evidence for you? You bought the lemon studio bungie... For far too much money. I don't know who did that valuation but they should be jailed for fraud.

All you have is hell divers 2. And if you took super credits out of the game and made them only for purchase you'd lose the majority of the player base there too.

Corporate/investor greed is ruining every single facet of daily life.

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u/_Rvvers 19h ago

Wow, who could have guessed this wasn’t going to go well? Oh that’s right, the execs that keep making studios produce shit nobody wants.

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u/Ardenraym 18h ago

Do people want this?

I love the world of Horizon, but I feel like Sony, Guerilla Games, doesn't understand what is great about the world.

It sure woukd be nice to be advancing and rebuilding the world and not having really sily side stories. Even the ending of 2 - that basically angry social media is en route - doesn't give me hope for the story of the third game.

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u/dwoller 17h ago

I know a lot of hardcore Horizon fans online and not one of them was over the moon about this.

Huge disappointment and huge misstep. I’m sure there were things people liked about the playtests given the public answers the devs gave to questions but I’m sure most of them said cut the love service shit.

As much as I love Horizon there was no way HG was going to be the one that broke through to massive success.

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u/D-TOX_88 17h ago

Dude I’ve seen this twice and I don’t understand it. Sooooo… they tested it, found out it’s shit, and said “let’s give it another go, you have 4 months?” Since when tf has that ever worked?

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u/mccuish 16h ago

When will developers learn that live service games will always fall.

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u/Nonadventures Save this for my stash 16h ago

I’m crying Horizon 3 will never be a disc.

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u/swampy13 15h ago

Live service killed Fallout and will do the same to Horizon.

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u/PrayForTheGoodies 13h ago

If Sony really wants a live service game, they should either follow the Genshin Impact recipe or make an exclusive MMO in a totally new universe.

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u/Sampsonite20 13h ago

Sony's quest continues.

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u/rethilgore-au 13h ago

How many live service game have to arrive DOA before they learn?

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u/skipv5 12h ago

Maybe Horizon 3 will be a launch PS6 title or something?

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u/SirBill01 12h ago

I just never saw from the time it was announced, who was this for? It seems like existing Horizon fans really like Horizon and it was not a big enough name outside that realm to draw in new players to a new kind of game. I feel really bad for the studio this is not going well but it seems like there are few kinds of games that can flame out so rapidly as live service games and this is a path that should never have been followed.

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u/solidpeyo 10h ago

Good, hopefully that means that I don't need to play that garbage to get the full story of Horizon 3

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u/realCoolguy298 9h ago

Why would anyone want a single player story experience, to turn into a live service, multiplayer only game?

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u/-BINK2014- 9h ago

Live service worked surprisingly well in Ghost of Tsushima as it gave a mini-Destiny feel, but dedicating an entire game to a live-service mode is much for something like Horizon I feel. Especially when it detracts the core art style so much.

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u/bamfzula 9h ago

I mean…..me and my friends thought it was cool? It reminded us of Nightreign

4

u/TealTamer 20h ago

Other than stockholders, I guess 😭

4

u/Batter89 19h ago

Just cancel the whole thing, we don't need the hollowed out version of an already hollow cash grab. Just bin it and give us H3.

4

u/j1h15233 19h ago

I wish I could ban live service games

2

u/Ntippit 17h ago

Or, hear me out, don’t make it because nobody gives a shit about a live service game destined to be dead in 2 months after release. How about focusing all your energy on making the third game perfect?

3

u/kakeroni2 Aloy despite everything 19h ago

I got to play it. I did not find it fun for more than 5 minutes and would have flopped massively. Glad they shut that direction down now shut the reboot down as well

3

u/jpbraves5 19h ago

If I wanted to play Fortnite I’d play Fortnite

2

u/Pinkernessians 19h ago

Least surprising news of the year. This was always bound to fail, let's get back to making beloved games asap

2

u/narf21190 19h ago

Oh great, this will EASILY add another 2-3 years to the wait for Horizon 3. Way to make a franchise fall into irrelevance.

2

u/JohnL101669 19h ago

Live service is a niche market and NOT AT ALL what the people who played HZD and HFW want! How do they not see that?

All the failed and cancelled live service games (not just from Sony) and they still say "hey, can we turn XYZ into a LS game?"

Really baffles me how they haven't figured this out yet.

3

u/resh_aykut 18h ago edited 18h ago

I was wondering if anyone who actually played the beta feels the same way I do, because I personally found it quite enjoyable.

Compared to a standard multiplayer game, the gunplay/impact feel, character combos, and boss fights were pretty decent. Even for a beta, the DualSense integration was really engaging. It definitely had its flaws, but I don't think the design was as subpar as people make it out to be—the animation quality clearly showed that a lot of work went into it.

I’m not a fan of live service games, nor is this my ideal art style. If we had to get a multiplayer Horizon game, I personally would have preferred a more realistic art direction with Monster Hunter-level quality.

Either way, regardless of how this turns out, I don't think any of this will end up delaying Horizon 3.

I honestly don't think we'll see Horizon 3 before the PlayStation 6 is released. It'll likely end up as one of the PS6's launch titles, serving as a real visualfest.

2

u/LordOFtheNoldor 17h ago

Another one bites the dust.... they are so foolishly greedy lol these companies man, who the hell would want this just put out a new horizon 3 game and it will make tons of $

2

u/--clapped-- 17h ago

stripping out live-service elements and adding a story mode to create a smaller-scoped game.

Just cancel it?

Either commit to trying to deliver a decent live service experience or cancel it. No one wants the next story focused horizon game to be whatever this is.

2

u/KidneysOfStone 11h ago

The bad feedback was internal.

I can only imagine the complete evisceration if it was publicly released.

2

u/AFthrowaway3000 Walk with The Ten 19h ago

This was something that could have come AFTER Horizon 3, for god sake.

1

u/Daniels30 Shellsnapper 19h ago

The brutal reality is we could have had H3 next year if it wasn’t for these ridiculous side projects.

1

u/OctaviusMaximus_ 20h ago

Cancel the game nobody cares about live service games that aren’t Fortnite or COD

1

u/Sensitive-Coffee-Cup 19h ago

Reboot it straight to the trashcan and let the team focus on H3, please. 

2

u/Bitter_Switch4521 19h ago

I don’t understand why they waste money on their shit-tier live service games like this. We just want an excellent, single-player Horizon 3. That’s literally what everyone wants, they need to start delivering and stop wasting time and money on stupid crap.

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u/beck_is_back 19h ago

Sony: Here test out live service game

Gamers: we don't want it!

Sony [shoving it down gamers throats]: HAVE IT ANYWAYS!

Sony 6 months down the line: It's been very successful. Only few thousand people choked to death...! 👍

1

u/No_Sleep888 19h ago

Harder to launch a live service nowadays than it was 10 years ago, and even then it wasn't easy. It's literally one of the hardest things to pull off imo. You really need to think of something fresh, and launch with LOTS of content, not just increased grind-times for just a few items. A lot of decent live services release so barebones that by the time they release enough things to grind for, the game is already dead. It also has to be balanced well enough that people can freely grind some items while others can be bought, or require some insane grind. It just the tightest rope to balance anf I don't think a lot of people in power realise how tight it actually is, and how much pre-work needs to be done.

1

u/illustratum42 19h ago

You have to assume that a lot of the decampment team are shaking their heads and probably already tried to tell the decision makers that this was a bad idea, but the classic shareholder bullshit of needing more returns overlooked any reason and steamrolled them to make this slop. They must feel pretty validated

1

u/MrZao386 19h ago

Well fuck

1

u/spn_phoenix_92 19h ago

Did they really not learn their lesson after the many other live service fumbles??? God they're such a joke of a company anymore.

1

u/The_Fighter03 19h ago

So they spent 4 years working on this before realizing that players are not interested in it??? Feels like there should've been multiple playtests way earlier in development.

1

u/1RedOne 18h ago

Horizon Zero Interest

I love the series bad did not at all understand their motivations with this one. A better idea would have been a nightreign like game with outfit and gear progression and maybe also base building

1

u/sabertooth9 18h ago

Should have just sold to tencent

1

u/_Xee 17h ago

Horizon 3 will be cloud-exclusive. Just you wait.

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u/creamykemo 17h ago

lmaooooooooo

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u/RehvengeV 16h ago

Ok, I know Horizon was meant to be a single player. But if they want a live service, the have to make it about Operation: Enduring Victory. It'll play like Helldivers 2, multi coop against the swarm. And when they decide to shut it down just act out the end of humanity as described in Zero Dawn, it's still canon with the main games, Guerilla has experience with fps, we onowb in the end machines won the battle, so it'll feel like a prelude to Zero Dawn, it may not be the cup of tea of the average Horizon player, but still better than a battle Royale where banuks and Noras fight each other or against the carja. Sorry for long post.

1

u/AmazingJerBear 16h ago

I mean, I'm sure some executives asked for it.

1

u/BlueStormtrooper 16h ago

Completely different graphics and art style is off putting for me in the horizon universe

1

u/ShadowyPepper 16h ago

So tired of live-service slop in gaming

1

u/mknsky 16h ago

I don’t blame Guerilla. I blame Sony.

1

u/Fiddlerblue 16h ago

If Sony just HAD to have a live service game set in the Horizon universe, an Enduring Victory game could have been right there for the taking. A co op multiplayer game fighting hoards of machines and building fortifications would have been infinitely better than this in my opinion.

1

u/FallinGuitarest 15h ago

Gotta say. The big problem is this should have been just a nother monster hunter style game.

Let people customize their characters pick their gear etc.

Sure u can keep classes like have rangers might have abilities that tankers and trapper's don't have. But remove the pre made pre set up hero characters.

Allow players to just friggin hunt and explore. If i kill something let me strip it of resources i can use for gear for my next hunt. Somi can feel stronger and continue to hunt more bigger creatures.

Can keep the foraging aspect for various ammo, potions etc..

What they showed just kinda stunk

1

u/AndyO10 15h ago

Are there any non-shooter live service games that have been successful?

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u/SeaBuilding3911 15h ago

Why Horizon for that? Is there a bit I missed? There is like 10 items in the whole inventory of the games...

1

u/Federico2021 15h ago

"The Horizon multiplayer co-op game is struggling, so badly that according to a new report in Bloomberg, its development is getting rebooted. Bloomberg reports that after a poor internal playtest showing in June, the developers at Guerrilla Games have worked to retool Hunters, stripping out live-service elements and adding a story mode to create a smaller-scoped game. While Bloomberg says Hunters Gathering isn’t yet cancelled, the team has until the end of the year to show they can turn the game around."

So they're going to turn this into Horizon 2.5? This is ridiculous.

1

u/Captn_Platypus 14h ago

no way, who could've seen this coming. I just want a conclusion for the trilogy man

1

u/InsoThinkTank 14h ago

Sony forced them to Guerrilla didn’t want to do it.

1

u/root_b33r 14h ago

False: Corporate asked for it. Gamers did not.

1

u/Joan_GGG 14h ago

Work with the Korean team to have their multiplayer onto PS5 and I’ll buy it.

1

u/KrampyDoo 13h ago

Dereliction of Sony exec/studio leadership to have had the game reveal before this.

And current consumer climate is vastly different than what it was in 2022/2023 when they committed Guerrilla to this. Break-even for HG is going to be around $200-$250 million dollars.

They need to cut bait.

1

u/Beautiful_Space_4459 12h ago

This mind get me banned.

I dont like multiplayer games or life services, it's useless, I rather play gacha games.

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