Guerrilla Games' Horizon Multiplayer: Aiming High or Playing it Safe?
Guerrilla Games' upcoming Horizon multiplayer game is generating significant buzz, with recent indications suggesting either incredibly high player expectations or a proactive approach to avoid launch issues. A recent job posting for a Senior Platform Engineer reveals a requirement for experience with "1M+ user globally distributed systems," hinting at a potential player base exceeding one million.
Since the release of Horizon Forbidden West and its Burning Shores DLC, Guerrilla has remained relatively quiet, focusing on collaborations like Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered and LEGO Horizon Adventures. However, the existence of a Horizon multiplayer game has been hinted at in job listings dating back to 2018, making its eventual arrival almost certain.
While the official announcement remains pending, the job posting's emphasis on large-scale, globally distributed systems suggests ambitious player count projections. This could indicate strong confidence in the game's appeal or, alternatively, a preventative measure against server overload at launch, a problem that plagued Helldivers 2 upon its release. Guerrilla may be learning from past experiences to ensure a smooth player onboarding process for their Horizon title.
The extended development period of the Horizon multiplayer game, coupled with a previous job listing suggesting a new Horizon release in 2025, strengthens the possibility of an imminent reveal. Given the anticipated time until the next mainline Horizon entry, this 2025 release is likely the multiplayer project. Whether Guerrilla's preparations reflect exceptionally high expectations or a cautious approach to avoid a repeat of Helldivers 2's launch difficulties remains to be seen. However, the scale of their infrastructure preparations is undeniably noteworthy.
