Horizon Zero Dawn, Multiplayer Game Incoming

As is seemingly becoming the way at PlayStation given the recent launch of The Last Of Us: Part I, PlayStation has a new focus on remastering and/or remaking some of it’s more recent classics. Today, courtesy of MP1ST, we’re learning that Sony’s intent is to remake the beloved 2017 classic Horizon: Zero Dawn for the PS5. All this after we recently got a tease for what could be Horizon Forbidden West DLC!

When The Last Of Us: Part I was originally leaked in a Bloomberg report by Jason Schereir in April 2021, the fan outcry was immense. Players couldn’t believe that PlayStation had intended to develop a remake of a game that was released a mere 9 years earlier (by the time it ultimately launched), and when the game did finally launch in September, questions were asked about the game’s necessity. The original The Last Of Us looked exceptional, and in the eys of many, still held up incredibly well in 2013, regardless of whether you played it in its original 2013 PS3 form, or even in its 2014, The Last Of Us: Remastered form. The challenge that Sony will have to overcome with this supposed Horizon: Zero Dawn remake is that the game launched a mere five years ago, on the PS4. The game is less than a generation old if you compare the potential launch window of a PS5 version in 2023 to the relative launch of the game on the PS4, and that is undoubtedly going to upset fans who will feel as if their fandom is being taken advantage of. What reports tell us however is that the game will include new and improved visuals in the form of new character models, lighting, and animations, as well as accessibility features, graphics modes, more general improvements to the gameplay, and further quality of life improvements as well.

Not only is a remake on the cards, but, more excitingly for fans of the franchise, it seems as though a multiplayer title is also on the way. Rumours of there being co-op in Horizon Forbidden West or even a stand-alone multiplayer title swirled several years ago, but never really got a lot of traction, however now this reporting would suggest that now it is about to become a reality.

The report from MP1ST has been corroborated by a host of other outlets including VGC and Gematsu, with Gematsu reporting on the top level news,

A document featuring several announced and unannounced Sony Interactive Entertainment projects—including a remastered version of Horizon Zero Dawn for PlayStation 5, and Horizon online multiplayer project for PlayStation 5 and PC—was recently shared with Gematsu. Gematsu was able to independently verify several titles listed in the document with multiple sources familiar with their development, including the Horizon titles.

Meanwhile, VGC shared what they had learned about the multiplayer project,

VGC understands that the studio has long intended to expand the Horizon series into the multiplayer space. Sources had previously told us that co-op was first planned for the original Horizon game but was ultimately scrapped so the development team could focus on other areas of the title.

It remains to be seen whether this is true with no official confirmation coming from PlayStation as of yet.

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