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.
• 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 about the appeal of its upcoming Horizon multiplayer project. Although details about the Horizon multiplayer game remain under wraps, Guerrilla Games appears to anticipate a massive influx of players for this live-service title.

Since the release of Horizon Forbidden West in 2022 and its Burning Shores DLC the following year, Guerrilla has been relatively quiet, focusing on smaller projects like Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered and LEGO Horizon Adventures. However, there has been substantial evidence over the years indicating that Guerrilla is actively developing a Horizon multiplayer game. Job listings dating back to 2018 have hinted at this project, and by 2025, its existence is all but confirmed.

While the official announcement date for the Horizon multiplayer project remains unknown, a recent job listing for a Senior Platform Engineer suggests that Guerrilla is aiming for high player numbers. 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 preparing 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 count might not just reflect expectations but could also be a precautionary measure to prevent server issues at launch, similar to what Helldivers 2 experienced. The servers for Helldivers 2 were overwhelmed for weeks due to unexpectedly high popularity on PS5 and PC, which hindered both new and existing players. Guerrilla likely wants to avoid such problems 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 unveil the live-service title this year. A few months ago, another Guerrilla job listing hinted at a new Horizon game potentially launching in 2025. Since the third mainline Horizon entry is still some time away, the anticipated 2025 release could very well be the Horizon multiplayer project.