Horizon Hunters Gathering Sets Second Closed Playtest for May 22 With New Hunters, Story Content, and Tougher Challenges

Guerrilla Games has officially confirmed that Horizon Hunters Gathering will hold its second closed playtest from May 22 to May 25, 2026, giving invited players a much broader look at the multiplayer spin off’s evolving gameplay loop. In the official PlayStation Blog announcement, game director Arjan Bak said the next test will include 2 new Hunters, a playable story Episode, a new region called Breakers’ Bounty, added difficulty options, and improved onboarding systems.

The biggest immediate addition is the expanded Hunter roster. Guerrilla confirmed that returning characters Rem, Sun, and Axle have all received improvements since the first playtest, and they will now be joined by Ensa and Shadow. Ensa is described as a charismatic Oseram smuggler with a mercenary past, while Shadow is a Carja covert operative who commands a Stalker machine. That already suggests a stronger emphasis on role variety and team composition than what players saw in the first closed test earlier this year.

Narrative content is also becoming a much larger part of the package. Guerrilla says the new playtest includes a playable Episode, which it describes as a central part of the game’s narrative campaign. According to the announcement, Episodes are designed to introduce new mysteries, characters, and mechanics, and this one will send players into the wilds to save Ashwater Valley from a machine horde. That is an important addition because it signals that Horizon Hunters Gathering is not just trying to be a repeatable co op mission game, but a more structured multiplayer experience with story driven progression woven into it.

The second playtest is also dialing up the challenge. Guerrilla says Machine Incursion is returning with 2 new difficulty settings, Hard and Merciless, while Cauldron Descent has been reworked into a longer, multi stage trial with more demanding encounters and reward opportunities for coordinated teams. The studio even teases that players may end up fighting a Thunderjaw and a Ravager at the same time, which gives a pretty clear indication of how much more aggressive the difficulty curve is becoming.

The new region, Breakers’ Bounty, should help the game feel larger and more varied as well. Guerrilla describes it as a zone of dense jungles and ravaged ruins bordering a scorching desert, and confirms it will be added alongside continued access to Devil’s Thirst and the Gathering social hub. That suggests the studio is starting to flesh out the world structure in a way that goes beyond isolated mission arenas, giving players a stronger sense of place inside this multiplayer take on the Horizon universe.

One of the most practical changes may be the addition of Training Modules. Guerrilla says these are meant to improve general onboarding and help players better understand the game’s systems. They also introduce a solo friendly element by allowing Hunter NPCs to join Episode or Machine Incursion missions, either by assisting in battle or automatically filling empty slots in a 3 player team. That is a smart addition because it lowers the barrier for players who want to learn the game without immediately depending on full co op coordination.

What stands out most in Guerrilla’s messaging is how carefully it is scaling access. Bak explicitly said the studio is continuing to playtest early and with small numbers so it can focus on the core experience and implement feedback before opening the game to bigger groups. That means players hoping for a large open beta will likely need to wait longer, but it also shows Guerrilla is treating these tests as active development checkpoints rather than promotional demos.

That cautious approach may frustrate some fans, especially because the new footage and social promotion, including the official PlayStation post and the new video, make the project look increasingly polished. Still, this second test sounds much closer to a real snapshot of the full experience, combining co op combat, narrative missions, solo support, social space systems, and more punishing repeatable content. If Guerrilla wanted to show that Horizon Hunters Gathering is growing into more than a side project, this update does a solid job of making that case.

Fresh Horizon Hunters Gathering details:

🏹 New Hunters debut
🏔️ Additional region revealed
🗓️ Second Playtest dated

More: https://t.co/qrbhkw9r40 pic.twitter.com/5r8r0CTgaL

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) May 5, 2026

The big remaining question is scale. Right now, the game still looks like a tightly controlled multiplayer experiment rather than a broad audience live service rollout. But if Guerrilla keeps building on this foundation and eventually opens the doors wider, Horizon Hunters Gathering could end up becoming one of PlayStation’s more interesting multiplayer bets in the post Forbidden West era.

What do you think of Guerrilla’s direction for Horizon Hunters Gathering so far, does the mix of co op, story Episodes, and tougher machine hunts sound promising enough for a bigger beta later this year?