Rumours of a sequel to critically acclaimed PS4 exclusive Horizon Zero Dawn have really started to heat up in recent days. There can't be many of us who'd be surprised to learn that we'll be getting a new entry on PS5, given the huge success of the 2017 open world adventure... but a new report suggests that Sony is also working with developer Guerilla Games on a third game as well as a second.
The fine folk at VGC claim to have heard from multiple sources that Sony Interactive Entertainment has already given Guerilla the go-ahead to realise its ambitions plans for the IP. These plans, it would appear, involve turning the story that kicked off with Horizon Zero Dawn into a trilogy.
The report goes on to state that Guerilla always had ambitious plans for Aloy and her post-apocalyptic world. Apparently the studio already has a multi-part script written up, but it wasn't until the huge critical and commercial success of Horizon Zero Dawn that Sony officially got behind it.
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If you've played through Horizon Zero Dawn, I'm sure you'll all agree that it was clearly written by a team with a strong vision, at least in terms of worldbuilding. The rich lore and history of the game's setting is an undeniable high-point of the 2017 title, and there were more than a few story stands left dangling for Guerilla to pick up in a sequel.
Only recently, Guerilla posted a job listing with the #PS5, once again sparking speculation that the next Horizon game would be a next-gen adventure. This is far from the first time we've heard reports that the sequel would be PS5 exclusive. Indeed, VGC also claims this to be the case, although notes the sequel was apparently bound for PS4 originally before development shifted entirely to the upcoming console.
Given the PS5 is due to release before the end of this year, it makes sense that Sony would want to move one of its biggest IPs over to the console sooner rather than later. Given the success of the first game, Horizon Zero Dawn 2 stands to be a giant incentive in choosing PS5 over Xbox Series X.
In the same article, sources tell VGC that Horizon Zero Dawn 2 will be "gigantic" in scope, and will boast a much larger game world with a greater emphasis on exploration. There are also rumblings of some kind of co-op mode, which would track with previous job listings posted by the studio.
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While I'd advise taking all of this with a pinch of salt until we hear something official, all of this tracks with what we'd previously heard and/or suspected about the future of Horizon. The coming months will likely be full of all kinds of information regarding next-gen releases, so hopefully we won't have too long to wait for confirmation.
Featured Image Credit: SonyTopics: PS5, PlayStation, Horizon Zero Dawn