Yesterday Guerrilla let us into the world of Horizon: Forbidden West with twenty minutes of gameplay. With fun exploration and wild combat but was a great first look at the upcoming title. However the one thing we didn’t get from the event was a release date.
One thing Sony has been praised for over the last console generation was giving their developers space to create. While no approach is perfect, sometimes you get a game like The Last of Us 2. While even that game was met with delays, Naughty Dog didn’t even start talking release dates till the project was near completion.
The same approach is being taken by Guerilla with their hotly anticipated sequel. That being said, it would appear the team is confident the project is still on the right. In a tweet Released by Guerilla’s official twitter account the company addressed fans:
Thanks for watching our #HorizonForbiddenWest gameplay reveal! We don't have an exact release date just yet, but development is on track and we will have an update for you very soon – thank you as always for your ongoing support!
— Guerrilla (@Guerrilla) May 27, 2021
In theory “on track” can mean a large number of things considering the game has never had a definitive time frame. While some people have speculated it might see a 2021 release, 2022 has also been suggested. Regardless of when it might release it seems that there is a confidence the studio can meet that timeframe.
Horizon: Zero Dawn, it’s predecessor, first released back in 2017. It received good reviews and quickly became a win for both Sony and Guerilla. The first game had a 6 year life cycle meaning that the Sequel might spend less time in development. There is actually a good reason why that might not matter much.
In 2011 Horizon: Zero Dawn began it’s life on Guerilla’s in house engine known as, get this, The Engine. A powerful engine in it’s own right it was later chosen by Hideo Kojima to speed development of his own game Death Stranding. As a sign of partnership they choose to name the engine Decima, after the Japanese island with a Dutch trading post Dejima. An established IP combined with a powerful engine means the team was already in a good position for a timely release.
Horizon: Forbidden West will boast a bigger, more diverse world to explore. We look forward to hearing more about the game soon.
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