Image: Guerrilla Games
Guild Wars 2 publisher NCSoft is reportedly working on a Horizon MMO for Sony.
The rumoured MMORPG spin-off of PlayStation Studios’ Horizon franchise has seemingly been confirmed, thanks to two new job listings spotted by Twitter/X user Kurakasis. The user reported that the MMO may be titled ‘Land of Salvation’, after spotting job listings that have the game, “essentially confirmed to be in development.” The game is currently in the works at South Korea-based NCSoft, the developer of Guild Wars 2.
Interestingly, the Horizon MMO seems to be targeting PC and mobile platforms only, with no mention of a PlayStation 5 release in these job listings.
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Two multiplayer games were rumoured to be in the works for the Horizon franchise, spinning off the adventures of Aloy and her machine-hunting friends. One is reportedly being worked on by Guerrila Games itself, while the other is an MMORPG in development at NCSoft. According to Kurakasis, the game may be called ‘Land of Salvation’ according to a recently-registered domain, but is currently codenamed ‘Project Skyline’.
The Horizon MMO is being developed in Unreal Engine 5 for PC and mobile platforms, but there is currently no sign of a PlayStation 5 port. The game also seems to be pretty far off from release. Kurakasis states that it’s planned to launch, “significantly later,” than the studio’s upcoming MMO AION 2, which is aiming for a 2024-2025 launch. The game began development in 2021, according to new job listings spotted on LinkedIn and Facebook.
The Horizon MMO appears to be a big undertaking for NCSoft. According to these listings, 140 people are working on the game, a number Kurakasis calls, “very significant,” when compared to existing titles like Lineage M (136 people) and Lineage W (147). We won’t know the scale of the project until it’s officially unveiled, but it’s worth noting that multiplayer games aren’t guaranteed to survive at Sony - just recently, the company announced that a multiplayer The Last of Us game has been axed.
Sony Interactive Entertainment announced a partnership with NCSoft just two months ago, with an aim to, “expand beyond console and broaden PlayStation's reach to a wider audience". While the announcement didn’t mention any upcoming games being worked on by either party, NCSoft was already rumoured to be working on a Horizon MMO due to a report from Korean news site MTN.
A sequel to Horizon Forbidden West is also in the works, along with a Netflix adaptation of the franchise.