Guerrilla Games Aims Big for Horizon Multiplayer

Summary

• Guerrilla Games may be anticipating significant player interest in its upcoming Horizon multiplayer game.
• A recent job listing from Guerrilla hints at the development of live-service systems capable of supporting over one million players for the Horizon multiplayer game.
• Guerrilla might also be taking steps to prevent server issues at launch, similar to those experienced by Helldivers 2.

Guerrilla Games appears to be highly confident in the appeal of its upcoming Horizon multiplayer project. Despite the game not yet being officially revealed, the studio seems to be preparing for a massive player base for this live-service title.

Since the release of Horizon Forbidden West in 2022 and its Burning Shores DLC in the following year, Guerrilla has been relatively quiet, focusing on smaller projects like Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered and LEGO Horizon Adventures. However, evidence of a Horizon multiplayer game has been accumulating for years. Job listings from as early as 2018 have hinted at this project, and by 2025, its existence is almost certain.

While the exact announcement date for the Horizon multiplayer project remains unknown, a recent job listing for a Senior Platform Engineer suggests that Guerrilla is aiming for a large player base. The job requirements mention "proven experience building and operating multi-service, 1M+ user globally distributed systems across multiple public cloud providers." This indicates that Guerrilla is developing a robust live-service infrastructure capable of supporting over one million players.

Guerrilla Might Be Ensuring a Trouble-Free Launch for the Horizon Multiplayer Game

On the other hand, this ambitious player target might be more of a precautionary measure to ensure a smooth onboarding process for players. The launch of Helldivers 2 saw its servers overwhelmed due to unexpectedly high popularity on PS5 and PC, which hindered both new and existing players. Guerrilla may be keen to avoid such issues with the Horizon multiplayer game. While there's no guarantee that the Horizon multiplayer game will achieve the same level of success as Helldivers 2, Guerrilla's preparation is commendable.

Given that the Horizon multiplayer game has been in development for several years, and assuming there are no significant behind-the-scenes issues, Guerrilla might be gearing up to reveal the live-service title this year. A few months ago, another Guerrilla job listing suggested that a new Horizon game could be released in 2025. With the third mainline Horizon entry still some time away, the anticipated 2025 release could very well be the Horizon multiplayer project.