Horizon Hunters Gathering Reportedly Rebooted as Sony Removes Live Service Structure
Sony is reportedly overhauling Horizon Hunters Gathering after private playtests failed to generate the response PlayStation and Guerrilla Games wanted, with the project now moving away from its original live service structure toward a smaller and more traditional cooperative multiplayer game. According to reporting from Bloomberg, Guerrilla has been working on the reboot since June 2026 following negative player feedback from earlier testing. The revised plan reportedly adds a stronger story mode while substantially reducing the overall scope of the project.
Horizon Hunters Gathering is not currently canceled, but its future is reportedly dependent on the next major development milestone. Guerrilla staff were told that the team has until December 2026 to demonstrate sufficient progress and convince PlayStation executives to continue funding development. A significant number of developers previously assigned to Hunters Gathering are also reportedly being moved onto another project, which will itself be evaluated toward the end of the year.
The change comes only months after Guerrilla publicly introduced Horizon Hunters Gathering as a major new chapter for the franchise. The original PlayStation announcement described a cooperative action game for PlayStation 5 and PC supporting teams of up to 3 Hunters, with tactical machine combat and replayable activities including Machine Incursion and Cauldron Descent. Guerrilla said the concept had existed since the early development of the Horizon universe and drew partly from the studio's previous multiplayer experience with Killzone.
The studio expanded the project considerably during its second closed playtest in May, introducing 2 additional Hunters, the Breakers' Bounty region, increased difficulty options, improved onboarding, NPC teammates for solo players, and a playable Episode designed as part of the narrative campaign. Guerrilla emphasized at the time that the project was being tested early specifically so player feedback could influence development before the game reached a larger audience.
That feedback now appears to have triggered a much larger redesign than initially expected. The reported removal of the live service structure represents another retreat from Sony's aggressive multiplayer strategy following the failure of Concord and the cancellation of several planned projects. PlayStation previously canceled a live service God of War project from Bluepoint Games alongside an unannounced Bend Studio title, reinforcing a broader reassessment of how many ongoing service games the company intends to support. Sony's previous live service cancellations provide additional context for the company's changing direction.
The restructuring could also have consequences for the next main Horizon game. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier says much of Guerrilla has been focused on Hunters Gathering during recent years, while the next major single player Horizon installment remains far from completion. Sony and Guerrilla have not announced a release window for either project, and the official Horizon Hunters Gathering page continues to list the game for PlayStation 5 and PC without a release date.
Removing the live service structure may ultimately give Horizon Hunters Gathering a clearer identity rather than simply representing another PlayStation retreat. The Horizon universe already provides an excellent foundation for cooperative machine hunting, and a focused story driven multiplayer game could make better use of that strength without requiring Guerrilla to design an endless content pipeline around player retention. The larger concern is how much development time has already been invested and whether the smaller team can deliver a convincing reboot before the December milestone. For now, the project remains alive, but its next few months appear critical.
Would you be more interested in Horizon Hunters Gathering as a focused cooperative game with a story campaign instead of a traditional live service experience?
