Sony Interactive Entertainment is rebooting Horizon Hunters Gathering, the co-op spinoff of Guerrilla Games' Horizon series, in response to negative player feedback. The company has decided to strip the game of its live-service components, aiming for a smaller-scale, more traditional co-op title that will include a story mode.
The decision to reboot the project was made in June. Horizon Hunters Gathering has not been canceled, but Guerrilla Games reportedly has until December to impress PlayStation executives. During this evaluation period, many developers working on the game will be reassigned to another project that shares the same deadline.
This pivot comes after a period of difficulty for PlayStation's live-service ambitions. Following Sony's acquisition of Bungie in 2022, the company outlined a plan to launch 12 live-service games by the end of its 2025 fiscal year. However, this goal has largely faltered. The hero shooter Concord was shut down after only two weeks, and planned live-service titles for God of War and The Last of Us were canceled. These cancellations have led to studio closures, including Firewalk Studios and Bluepoint Games.
Bungie released Marathon earlier this year, which was followed by layoffs affecting teams working on both Destiny and Marathon. Despite these setbacks, PlayStation CEO and president Hideaki Nishino reiterated the company's commitment to live-service games in June, stating they attract global users and the company wants to revitalize the market with such content. At the time of these comments, PlayStation also decided to reboot Horizon Hunters Gathering as a non-live service title.
Separately, a small team at Guerrilla Games is planning the next mainline Horizon game, though it is expected to be years away from completion.