Are Guerrilla Games already working on the Horizon Forbidden West sequel? Recent reports suggest so

Horizon Forbidden West, the long-anticipated sequel to 2017s Horizon Zero Dawn, was released earlier this year. The sequel takes Aloy to the Forbidden West, where she comes face-to-face with new and old enemies alike. It also brings new mechanical beasts such as the Slitherfang, Tremortusk, and Stormbird.

While Horizon Forbidden West was undoubtedly an amazing title, it was somewhat overshadowed by Elden Ring, resulting in less than amicable sales numbers.

Nevertheless, fans of the franchise do not need to worry, as Guerrilla games seem to be already developing a third mainline Horizon title.

---

“We're setting up some things for the next game” : Horizon Forbidden West's Creative Director hints at a future sequel

Horizon Forbidden West is set six months after the events of Horizon Zero Dawn. In Horizon Forbidden West, Aloy searches for a backup of GAIA in order to restore the planet's dying biosphere.

When Aloy and her friend Varl search a facility once belonging to Far Zenith, a company specializing in space colonization, they find a GAIA backup. However, it has been sabotaged. The story then follows Aloy as she travels to the Forbidden West to discover the sources of the issues surrounding the planet.

From a gameplay perspective, the title builds upon the foundation laid by Zero Dawn and expands on it to refine existing mechanics and introduce new gameplay challenges.

Although it was released on PlayStation 5 and utilized several of its hardware features such as ray-tracing and faster loading time, it did leave some players wanting a true next-gen experience, and it seems like they might not have to wait for long.

In a recent interview with VG27, Horizon Forbidden West's Creative Director, Mathijs de Jonge mentioned,

"Horizon is really about mystery; each of our stories has been about uncovering mysteries in both the old world and the present day when the game takes place. Indeed, there are plenty of backstories that we can tap into to develop new storylines and create new mysteries from what we’ve already established, and, indeed, this game ends with another big cliffhanger, where we’re setting up some things for the next game once again."

---

What to expect from a third Horizon game?

When it was first released back in 2017, Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn was unlike any other title before. The game introduced the players to a world populated by mechanical beasts as humanity has reverted back to early civilizations.

The players follow the story of Aloy, a young Nora outcast, who in search of her origin finds the truth behind the current world. The title was praised for its phenomenal gameplay and storytelling, which the sequel Horizon Forbidden West pushed to the next level.

Currently, Guerrilla Games is speculated to be developing a story expansion for Horizon Forbidden West, similar to that of The Frozen Wilds, as well as the already announced, Horizon Call of the Mountain VR title. With Jonge’s comment, it seems that the PlayStation Studio has begun the development of the next title, albeit at an early stage.

As Jonge mentioned, the studio has already left unresolved story threads that will be explored in the sequel. The sequel is expected to carry forward Aloy’s story with the players once again reprising their role as the young Nora Huntress.

Similar to Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West, the sequel is expected to be set in a new location and introduce new mechanical beats to fight or tame.

While Forbidden West is certainly a technically impressive title with noticeable improvements over Zero Dawn, the third Horizon venture is expected to be even more of a leap forward as it is most likely to be built from the grounds up for the PlayStation 5. With that being said, the next Horizon game isn’t coming anytime soon.

---