Guerrilla Games Unveils Ambitious Plans for Horizon Multiplayer

Summary

• Guerrilla Games may be predicting very high player interest for its upcoming Horizon multiplayer game.
• A recent Guerrilla job listing hints at the studio building live-service systems for the Horizon multiplayer game that can support over one million players.
• On the other hand, Guerrilla might be taking preventative measures to ensure that the Horizon multiplayer game doesn't suffer from server issues at launch like Helldivers 2 did.

A new job listing from Guerrilla Games suggests that the studio is highly confident in the appeal of its upcoming Horizon multiplayer project. Despite the game not yet being officially unveiled, Guerrilla Games appears to anticipate substantial player interest in 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 in development has been accumulating for years. Job listings from as early as 2018 have hinted at this project, and by 2025, its existence seems almost certain.

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

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

Alternatively, this ambitious player count might be more of a precautionary measure to ensure a smooth onboarding process for players. The launch of Helldivers 2 saw its servers overwhelmed for weeks due to unexpectedly high popularity on PS5 and PC, which negatively impacted both new and existing players. Guerrilla may be aiming to avoid a similar scenario with the Horizon multiplayer game. While there's no guarantee that the 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 no major setbacks, Guerrilla might be preparing to reveal the live-service title this year. A few months ago, another job listing hinted at a new Horizon game potentially launching in 2025. With the third mainline Horizon entry still some time away, this 2025 release could very well be the anticipated Horizon multiplayer project.