Next Single-Player Horizon Game Is Years Away as Sony Reboots Horizon Hunters Gathering

Fans hoping to step back into the shoes of Aloy for a mainline single-player Horizon adventure will need to exercise serious patience. Developer Guerrilla Games, working under publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment, has focused almost all of its development resources on the upcoming co-op title Horizon Hunters Gathering. According to industry insider Jason Schreier of Bloomberg, the next single-player entry in the acclaimed franchise remains “years away from completion” as only a skeleton team handles early planning.

Why Is the Next Single-Player Horizon Game So Far Away?

The massive delay for the next single-player chapter comes down to resource allocation within Guerrilla Games. While Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West established the franchise as a single-player juggernaut for PlayStation platforms, the studio redirected the vast majority of its staff to complete its multiplayer spin-off.

Jason Schreier reported via Bluesky and Bloomberg that only a tiny incubation team is currently outlining early concepts for Aloy’s next single-player story. Because full-scale production has not yet begun, the sequel is still deep in pre-production. Gamers expecting a mainline release anytime soon will likely be waiting well into the next hardware generation cycle.

What Changes Are Being Made to Horizon Hunters Gathering?

Originally revealed as a stylized live-service online title, Horizon Hunters Gathering is undergoing a massive design reboot behind closed doors. Private playtesting sessions conducted earlier this year yielded overwhelmingly negative player feedback, prompting Sony and Guerrilla Games to rethink their approach.

Instead of pushing forward with aggressive live-service elements, the team is stripping out games-as-a-service mechanics. The updated strategy retools the project into a traditional cooperative multiplayer experience with a structured story mode and a significantly scaled-down scope.

How Does This Overhaul Impact PlayStation’s Live-Service Strategy?

This pivot marks another major adjustment in Sony Interactive Entertainment’s broader push toward multiplayer offerings. After spending recent years attempting to establish dominant online franchises, player reception has pushed the publisher back toward player-focused design choices.

Removing live-service bloat in favor of a focused, narrative-driven co-op adventure may save Horizon Hunters Gathering from the fate of other cancelled online initiatives. However, as Guerrilla works through these structural changes, single-player fans must prepare for a long wait before Aloy returns to the spotlight.