Guerrilla Games' Horizon Multiplayer: Ambitious Player Count or Preemptive Measures?
Guerrilla Games' upcoming Horizon multiplayer game is generating significant buzz, with recent developments hinting at either exceptionally high player expectations or a proactive approach to avoid launch-day server issues. A recent job posting for a Senior Platform Engineer reveals a requirement for "proven experience building and operating multi-service, 1M+ user globally distributed systems." This suggests either a projected player base exceeding one million or a deliberate strategy to create a robust, scalable infrastructure.
Since Horizon Forbidden West's release in 2022 and its Burning Shores DLC, Guerrilla has remained relatively quiet, focusing on collaborations like Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered and LEGO Horizon Adventures. However, evidence of a Horizon multiplayer game has been accumulating since at least 2018 through various job listings.
While the official announcement remains pending, the job posting's emphasis on a million-plus user capacity is noteworthy. This could indicate Guerrilla's high confidence in the game's appeal and potential for massive player engagement. Alternatively, it could be a preemptive measure to prevent server overload issues at launch, similar to those experienced by Helldivers 2. The unexpected popularity of Helldivers 2 overwhelmed its servers, hindering player access. Guerrilla likely aims to avoid such a scenario.
The Horizon multiplayer game has been in development for years. Considering this, and a previous job listing suggesting a new Horizon game release in 2025, it's highly probable that the multiplayer title could be unveiled this year, assuming development is progressing smoothly. Given the anticipated time until the next mainline Horizon entry, a 2025 release strongly points towards the multiplayer project.
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