A Horizon Zero Dawn MMO is reportedly in the works

If you had to guess what’s next for the Horizon franchise after Zero Dawn its sequel, Forbidden West, an MMO probably wouldn’t be the first thing that comes to mind. According to a new report, that’s exactly what’s happening.

The report comes from South Korean news outlet MTN, and it claims that developer NCSoft will be handling the project. The studio has reportedly come to an agreement with Sony to create a game using the Horizon IP. NCSoft is best known for developing Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2, so it’s certainly a trustworthy company for such a game. There are no further details other than the behind-the-scenes agreement to make the MMO, so the game would appear to be in the very early stages of development right now.

One of the first questions that comes to mind is, what platform would a Horizon MMO release on? The current-gen PlayStation 5 is a given, and with Sony releasing its console exclusives on PC over the past year and change, that would also seem to be a likely launch platform. We’ve already seen one massive success of Final Fantasy XIV across PlayStation consoles and PC. The MMO has been called out as the reason for Square Enix’s financial success last year.

Mechanically, Horizon’s design does lend itself to an MMO in a few ways. First and foremost is the large map, which is already divided into distinct territories (with even more beyond the borders that could be added as expansions down the road). Living in those lands are a variety of tribes. It’s easy to imagine Nora, Carja, Oseram, and others as the basis for character creation. It’s also easy to picture going up against oversized robot dinosaurs with others during raids.

In case it’s bugging you because why didn’t mention it yet, yes, there is already a third Horizon game on the way. Call of the Mountain is a PSVR 2 launch title that stars a different character than regular protagonist Aloy. Its release date is February 22, 2023, the same day as the new VR rig.