It’s been reported that Horizon Forbidden West won’t include any sort of multiplayer component, but the reason for that might be because developer Guerrilla Games has been saving such aspirations for a separate, fully fledged project.
As spotted by VGC, Guerrilla Games’ job site has been updated with at least one new listing that suggests the developer is planning or already working on a multiplayer game. While there’s no actual indication of it being Horizon related, sources have pointed out that Guerrilla has shown serious interest in taking its post-apocalyptic franchise beyond single player in the past, having planned co-op for the original before the feature was ultimately scrapped. Concept art that was leaked back in 2014 also alluded to multiple players battling Horizon Zero Dawn’s robotic beasts.
Guerrilla’s call for a Senior Social Systems Designer:
Guerrilla is looking for an experienced Senior Social Systems Designer with a passion for player communities and social features. Reporting to the Lead Game Designer, you will work within a core team of multiple designers focused on social systems and player engagements, and take charge to ensure quality feature delivery. Leveraging your background and experience in Systems Design, you will ideate, create and share innovative features to build, engage, and nurture player interactions and relationships. As a Senior Social Systems Designer, you can expect to:
- Design features and systems to promote a healthy and fun experience for our player community, engage players in social interactions to create lasting relationships, and where compatible players can create Guild-like groups to explore together
- Collaborate with different teams to integrate moderation tools promoting a safe community
- Explore creative ways players can connect with others in-game
- Work closely with your Lead and Producers to ensure a timely delivery of design documents and in-game features
- Coordinate with QA to make sure game features are fully tested and stable
- Analyze and parse playtest data to extract actionable tasks
- Analyze how games utilize social interactions to promote player-to-player bond
Regardless of whether the franchise gets the multiplayer treatment or not, Horizon Zero Dawn fans will be able to enjoy its sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, beginning on February 2022. The game will be available on both PS4 and PS5 consoles.
Source: Guerrilla Games (via VGC)