- The Horizon franchise is expanding with sequels and spin-offs.
- NCSoft is working on an MMORPG for the IP.
- The new game is being created with Unreal Engine 5 and will be available on PCs and mobiles.
The Horizon series will continue to play a massive role in PlayStation’s future in 2024 and beyond. Following Horizon Forbidden West’s upcoming PC port, new IP content, including an MMORPG from NCSoft, will be released over time.
A new job listing from the studio seemingly confirms this project after reports revealed its initial details last year.
Why it matters: Guerrilla Games previously confirmed that the franchise would run for many years, and such projects should keep players engaged with fresh experiences.
Everything I have found about Horizon MMO (MMORPG to be precise):
The game is now essentially confirmed to be in development, as an NCSoft employee posted a job listing on LinkedIn with a codename logo stylized similarly to the logo of Horizon games.
– It's developed under the… pic.twitter.com/Xykp1sp1o3
— Kurakasis (@Kurakasis) December 31, 2023
This MMORPG may be titled Land of Salvation, which is currently being developed under the codename project skyline by NCSoft.
The job listing includes the codename with a font oddly similar to the Horizon logo from Guerrilla Games’ past work. Connecting the dots, Twitter user Kurakasis believes that the online game is all but confirmed at this point.
According to these details, Unreal Engine 5 will be used for this project. Therefore, it will be the first Horizon game to leave behind the incredible Decima engine, which has been praised for its technical prowess.
The Horizon MMORPG also appears to be targeting mobile and PC platforms. While the job listing does not mention PlayStation or console platforms, seeing this IP skipping a console release would be odd, so it will likely arrive on PS5 as well.
NCSoft is working on Aion 2, another MMORPG for PC and mobile. According to the report, the Horizon MMORPG will be released after Aion 2 arrives in 2024 or 2025, so the game is still a few years away.
Moreover, the project has been in development for around three years. Since 2021, the MMORPG has grown a lot, with 140 developers reportedly focusing on the project in September 2023.
The Horizon franchise has traditionally found great success on platforms outside of PlayStation. Horizon Zero Dawn is still the best-selling PlayStation PC Port, so an online game using the world and lore of the IP could be even more successful.
We believe this approach has a lot of potential. IPs like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout have been thriving with their online live-service titles recently, so this MMORPG has the potential to eventually grow into something huge for Sony.
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[News Reporter]
Bawal is an MBBS student by day and a gaming journalist by night. He has been gaming since childhood, growing fond of the creativity and innovation of the industry. His career as a gaming journalist started one year ago, and his journey has allowed him to write reviews, previews, and features for various sites. Bawal has also been cited in reputed websites such as Screenrant, PCGamesN, WCCFTech, GamesRadar, and more.