Sony's live service plans continue to shrink, as the Horizon multiplayer spin-off Hunters Gathering undergoes a rework. Sony dedicated a huge amount of resources to live service projects at the start of the PlayStation 5 generation, and it has been almost all a massive failure.
From the 12 live service games Sony originally planned to launch by 2026, only a handful have actually come out – and to varying success. Helldivers 2 was a hit (although it was not made by an internal Sony developer), Concord was an astronomical flop, and the latest live service title, Marathon, despite being critically well received, has flopped too. Many in-development titles have been cancelled, while others, like Fairgames and Horizon Hunters Gathering, face an uncertain future.
Horizon Multiplayer Spin-Off Retooled
Indeed, following several playtests, the latter is now apparently being retooled into a traditional multiplayer game. According to Bloomberg, developer Guerrilla Games has been working to overhaul Horizon Hunters Gathering since June, following poor feedback in private testing. It is claimed the live service elements will be stripped out and it will become a traditional co-op game instead, with a story mode and a 'far smaller scope'.
There is a chance the game could be cancelled though, as Bloomberg notes that staff at Guerrilla have until the end of the year to 'impress executives with their next milestone'. It is said many of the developers on Horizon Hunters Gathering are being reassigned to a different project, which will also be evaluated at the end of 2026.
Mainline Horizon Sequel Still Far Away
If you are hoping this will accelerate progress on a sequel to Horizon Forbidden West, do not get your hopes up. According to Jason Schreier on Bluesky, who wrote the Bloomberg report, the next mainline single-player Horizon game 'is still far, far away'. Many fans have speculated that it is being saved for use as a PlayStation 6 launch title, but if anything Schreier's comments make it seem even further away than that.
The majority of Guerrilla's staff has been working on Horizon Hunters Gathering for the past few years, and based on this report, it will likely become another example of how Sony has mismanaged a studio into creating something that will only last a few months. It remains to be seen if it can be salvaged into something which does make it to market, or that even looks remotely interesting, but it is an infuriating echo of Sony's other failed attempts at chasing a live service hit – to the detriment of games people actually care about.
Fairgames Future Unclear
Beyond this Horizon spin-off, the fate of its other confirmed live service game, Fairgames, is still unclear. It has not been officially cancelled, but there have been several high-profile staff exits over the past year at developer Haven Studios.
