Guerrilla Games Aims Big 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.

Guerrilla Games seems to be brimming with confidence about its upcoming Horizon multiplayer project, despite the game still being under wraps. The studio's recent job listing for a Senior Platform Engineer suggests that they are gearing up for massive player engagement with the live-service title. The job description specifically mentions the need for "proven experience building and operating multi-service, 1M+ user globally distributed systems across multiple public cloud providers," indicating that Guerrilla is preparing to support over one million players for the Horizon multiplayer game.

Since the release of Horizon Forbidden West in 2022 and its subsequent Burning Shores DLC, Guerrilla has been relatively quiet, focusing on smaller projects like Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered and LEGO Horizon Adventures. Yet, there has been consistent evidence pointing towards the development of a Horizon multiplayer game, with job listings hinting at this project as early as 2018. As we approach 2025, the existence of this multiplayer project seems all but confirmed.

While the exact announcement date for the Horizon multiplayer game remains a mystery, the ambitious player number goals highlighted in the job listing are noteworthy. Guerrilla's focus on building a robust live-service infrastructure could be a sign of their high expectations for player turnout.

However, this ambition could also be a strategic move to avoid server issues at launch, similar to what Helldivers 2 experienced due to its unexpectedly high popularity. By preparing for over one million players, Guerrilla aims to ensure a smooth onboarding process for the Horizon multiplayer game, preventing the kind of server overwhelm that frustrated both new and existing players of Helldivers 2. While it's uncertain if the Horizon multiplayer game will achieve the same level of success, Guerrilla's proactive approach is commendable.

Given that the Horizon multiplayer game has been in development for years, and assuming there are no major setbacks, Guerrilla might be ready to unveil this live-service title soon. A few months ago, another job listing hinted at a new Horizon game release in 2025. With the third mainline Horizon game still some time away, it's likely that this 2025 release will be the much-anticipated Horizon multiplayer project.