While there's been no official confirmation of a Horizon Zero Dawn sequel yet, a new job listing from Guerrilla Games does suggest that the company has one in development.
According to the Guerrilla job post, the developer is looking to hire a lead animator with proficiency in animating animals. This individual will have an entire team under them with this same skillset, and together, they will work with the sole purpose of animating creature movements and behaviors.
If there's any game in Guerrilla's repertoire that would need an entire team of skilled "creature" animators, its Horizon Zero Dawn. The game heavily featured machines that intentionally behaved and moved like prehistoric animals. And these machines were the primary enemies in the game, which made them the objects players interacted with the most throughout their playthroughs. So it only makes sense that Guerrilla would have an entire team dedicated to getting their movements and behaviors correct. They don't want to ruin the player's immersion.
That said, this isn't the first job listing Guerrilla has posted that suggests a Horizon Zero Dawn sequel is in development. The company has also put out a notice that it's looking for vegetation artists — or individuals skilled in drawing woodland environments. And one of the primary aspects of the Horizon Zero Dawn world setting was that nature reclaimed it. The game even implemented stealth mechanics centered around the vegetation, ones that players could use to either get the jump on their enemies or make hasty retreats.
And if that isn't enough, there's actually a Horizon Zero Dawn continuation comic coming out sometime in July 2020. The comic's story will pick up soon after the game's ending and bring certain characters into conflict with new deadly machines, possibly the same machines that the lead animator chosen by this current job post will have to animate.
In other words, Sony and Guerrilla obviously have plans to continue Horizon Zero Dawn. Sony even intends to give the title a PC port, making it the first inhouse Sony title to have availability on a system other than PlayStation. Diehard PlayStation fans aren't happy about this, but Sony claims to have done it to give both the PlayStation and Horizon Zero Dawn some more publicity, thus potentially converting more players.
Regardless, at this point, it's less about wondering if a Horizon Zero Dawn sequel is happening and more waiting for its official announcement.
Horizon Zero Dawn released for the PS4 on February 28, 2017.
Source: Guerrilla Games Jobs Board (via SegmentNext)
That said, this isn't the first job listing Guerrilla has posted that suggests a Horizon Zero Dawn sequel is in development. The company has also put out a notice that it's looking for vegetation artists — or individuals skilled in drawing woodland environments. And one of the primary aspects of the Horizon Zero Dawn world setting was that nature reclaimed it. The game even implemented stealth mechanics centered around the vegetation, ones that players could use to either get the jump on their enemies or make hasty retreats.
And if that isn't enough, there's actually a Horizon Zero Dawn continuation comic coming out sometime in July 2020. The comic's story will pick up soon after the game's ending and bring certain characters into conflict with new deadly machines, possibly the same machines that the lead animator chosen by this current job post will have to animate.
In other words, Sony and Guerrilla obviously have plans to continue Horizon Zero Dawn. Sony even intends to give the title a PC port, making it the first inhouse Sony title to have availability on a system other than PlayStation. Diehard PlayStation fans aren't happy about this, but Sony claims to have done it to give both the PlayStation and Horizon Zero Dawn some more publicity, thus potentially converting more players.
Regardless, at this point, it's less about wondering if a Horizon Zero Dawn sequel is happening and more waiting for its official announcement.
Horizon Zero Dawn released for the PS4 on February 28, 2017.
Source: Guerrilla Games Jobs Board (via SegmentNext)