We are certain nobody expected that Sony’s upcoming LEGO Horizon Adventures would be announced for the Nintendo Switch, alongside the PlayStation 5 and PC. The game wasn’t made for PlayStation 4 either, so it’s not clear why it was coming to a rival console.
But given the LEGO license, it did seem clear that Guerrilla Games was looking to cater to a younger audience with this title. While that still doesn’t quite explain the snub for the PlayStation 4, which still has roughly half of active PlayStation users, it does explain that Nintendo Switch port.
Sony has certainly fallen behind in making PlayStation games for children, but they seem to have recognized the need to create their own supply on this end. With that in mind, we did see the company release Team Asobi’s Astro Bot this year, a very well regarded game in what has been a frustrating year for PlayStation gamers otherwise.
It’s clear that LEGO Horizon Adventures was part of that trend, but unlike Astro Bot, this game is being allowed to venture outside PlayStation. It may simply be part of using the LEGO license, but it’s also possible that Guerrilla sought out the LEGO license to open up this opportunity in the first place.
In any case, Guerrilla Games lead producer for franchise development, Tim Symons, was very eager to talk about the latest LEGO Horizon Adventures trailer on Twitter. He shared the trailer from Nintendo’s Twitter and said this:
“I still cannot believe we pulled it off: developing an AAA game for Nintendo Switch by PlayStation Studios!
BTW that entire trailer @NintendoAmerica just posted was fully recorded on Nintendo Switch! What you see is what you get!”
Indeed, we confirmed that the Nintendo Switch pre-order trailer is also on Nintendo’s official YouTube channel. Even if you raise the video quality on YouTube to its 1080p maximum, it won’t make the game have sharper, more detailed graphics, or a faster framerate.
And, of course, it’s a LEGO game, so why would we be looking for that? The LEGO games fit a certain aesthetic and gameplay style for broad appeal to children and families. This was definitely a smart move on Sony’s part, as future LEGO Horizon games could continue appearing on multiple platforms, and spread Horizon’s reach beyond what PlayStation can do.
On the side, Tim worked in Nintendo of America for over a decade before moving to Guerrilla Games. So maybe he was happy to get to work with some old friends for this game, or maybe he just got a kick of seeing a new project he worked on with that familiar red logo again. In any case, maybe this little factoid should be a reassurance to fans that an old hand at Nintendo helped make this appealing to their players too.
LEGO Horizon Adventures releases on November 14, 2024, on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. You can watch the Nintendo Switch pre-order trailer below.
