Horizon: Forbidden West was announced almost a year ago, and is aiming to release this holiday season. While many games have been impacted and delayed as a result of the global pandemic, the head of PlayStation studios, Hermen Hulst, says that Horizon: Forbidden West is on track to meet its release goal.
Horizon: Forbidden West is the follow-up to Guerrilla Games' Horizon: Zero Dawn that released in 2017. Fans got their first look at gameplay from Horizon: Forbidden West recently as part of a State of Play that showed off the open-world PlayStation exclusive. Many found what was shown to be very graphically impressive, making Hulst's comments all the more impressive if the game does meet its original release goal.
In a recent interview with PlayStation Blog, Hulst was asked how PlayStation Studios have been able to cope with the difficult changes facing the games industry over the past year. In Hulst's response, he says that Horizon: Forbidden West looks to be on track for a release this holiday season, but that it isn't completely sure yet. He says that the team is working hard to try and solidly confirm the release date as soon as possible. Hulst also mentions the importance of AAA single-player titles for PlayStation like Horizon: Forbidden West, which is one of the PlayStation 5's biggest upcoming titles.
The concern for Horizon: Forbidden West's release came as a consequence of the pandemic, and the game's focus as a narrative-driven experience. Narratively driven games like Horizon: Forbidden West require numerous hours of performance capture from a number of actors and crew. Coordinating recording sessions have proven very difficult for AAA titles since the pandemic started, with Hulst naming the God of War sequel as a particular title that has been delayed due to similar issues.
It is good news for fans that Horizon: Forbidden West looks as though it will still launch this holiday season. It is not altogether surprising, as the shown gameplay did look rather complete and far along in development, but it is always nice to have confirmation that it is still on track, even if Hulst says that it is not set in stone yet. Hopefully, Sony will have an official release date or more to say about Horizon: Forbidden West soon. It is possible that players will see more of the game, and Sony's other numerous first-party titles, as the company confirmed that it will take part in this month's Summer Games Fest.
Horizon: Forbidden West is currently in development for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
Source: PlayStation Blog