The Silence Around Horizon Forbidden West is More Concerning than God of War
The ongoing pandemic has severely affected game development in the last year, and as a result, has delayed many big and small titles. PlayStation exclusive titles such as Deathloop, Returnal, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart have already been delayed once, and it wouldn't be surprising if it happens with other 2021 PS5 titles like Horizon Forbidden West and God of War Ragnarok.
Both Horizon Forbidden West and God of War Ragnarok are slated for a 2021 release, and while this hasn't officially changed yet, the severe lack of news on both of them has led many to believe that is indeed the case. While God of War Ragnarok hitting the 2021 window always felt too far-fetched, it's the lack of news on Horizon Forbidden West that has many concerned.
A sequel to 2017's highly successful Horizon Zero Dawn, Horizon Forbidden West was officially revealed at Sony's Future of Gaming event last year. The three minutes long cinematic trailer gave a glimpse of the game's new premise, with a setting that stretches among California, Utah, and Nevada. It also revealed some of the daunting new machines like Shellsnappers, Bristlebacks, and Sunwings.
Horizon Zero Dawn was a breakout hit for Guerrilla Games, a studio that had no prior experience of making open-world games. As such, many were surprised by the game's intricate main plot, narratively rich side quests, and a remarkable protagonist Aloy, who stands tall among the likes of other PlayStation mascots. With Horizon Forbidden West, the Amsterdam-based studio seems more confident than ever, making this next-gen sequel all the more exciting.
However, the continued silence over such a prolonged period of time doesn't seem like a good sign. It's been almost a year since Guerrilla Games gave a development update on the game. Even the reveal of Horizon Forbidden West was in stark contrast to that of Horizon Zero Dawn, which got a five minutes long bombastic gameplay trailer at E3 2015. While Sony's strategy to market its big PS5 exclusive games has undoubtedly changed since the early PS4 era, such a silence during a global pandemic doesn't fare well for the game's 2021 release window.
Horizon Forbidden West isn't the only big Sony first-party game targeting a 2021 release window. The sequel to 2018's critically acclaimed God of War, God of War Ragnarok was also revealed as a 2021 title. However, God of War Ragnarok getting delayed seems far more feasible than Horizon Forbidden West for plenty of reasons. For starters, the latter has been in development for a longer period of time.
Horizon Zero Dawn was first released on February 28, 2017. This means that its sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, has been in development for at least three years. A 2021 release makes all the more sense, especially because it's being developed on the same Decima Engine that powered the first game. Furthermore, reports suggest that Horizon Forbidden West was initially a PS4 title scheduled to launch before the PS5 was even revealed. Since then, things have obviously changed with Horizon Forbidden West not only releasing simultaneously on both PS4 and PS5, but also being reportedly made from the ground up for Sony's superior console.
On the other hand, God of War Ragnarok has only been in development for two years, whereas its 2018's predecessor was in development for five years. While game director Cory Barlog has confirmed that the studio's next project won't take that much time to develop, two years still seems inadequate to develop a game of such humungous scope and size.
It's no doubt that God of War Ragnarok was revealed early to get fans excited for the upcoming PS5 generation. At this point, it's not even confirmed whether the God of War sequel is officially called God of War Ragnarok. Furthermore, aside from the fact that the game will see the coming of Ragnarok, there hasn't been much revealed at this point. On the other hand, Horizon Forbidden West even got a three minutes long developer-talk video in which game director Mathijs de Jonge discussed what fans could expect from this much-anticipated sequel.
In the case of Horizon Forbidden West, fans have much more information to ponder and discuss in comparison to God of War Ragnarok, which remains an eternal mystery. As such, fans are entitled to realistically expect Horizon Forbidden West in 2021 rather than God of War Ragnarok. While Sony exclusives sell well throughout the year, a holiday release for a big first-party, open-world game like Horizon would be more than welcoming.
Cross-gen games have mostly been a double-edged sword in the past. Making the game available across two generations of consoles is always appreciated as more gamers get to play the game. On the other hand, there have been many cases where the inferior version of the game is downright unplayable. The prime example of such a situation is last year's Cyberpunk 2077, which is still struggling on base PS4 and Xbox One consoles. It's no surprise that the Cyberpunk 2077 launch fiasco shook the industry and has made developers more cautious about the state of games at launch.
Horizon Forbidden West is a cross-gen title as well, the news of which wasn't received well by some fans. The PS5 version of the game being held back by its PS4 counterpart is possible, but it's also important to acknowledge how it could affect the PS4 version of the game. As mentioned before, the development of Horizon Forbidden West started with the PS4 in mind, which wasn't the case with Cyberpunk 2077. However, game development is a complex process, and it wouldn't be surprising if the game's ambitions changed midway through development.
However, that doesn't mean that Sony and Guerilla Games wouldn't try to be the best of both worlds and release an equally polished version of the game on both systems. Though if the target is still to ship the game in 2021, the studio could crunch its way to the finish line, which evidently, hasn't turned out too well for games and game developers in the past.
Horizon Forbidden West is scheduled to release in 2021.
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