PlayStation’s live service push continues with a co-op Horizon spinoff

Sony is expanding its Horizon universe again with Horizon Hunters Gathering, a “cooperative action game” in development by franchise creator Guerrilla for PS5 and PC.

Horizon Hunters Gathering lets “up to three players team up as heroic Hunters to protect a world under threat from deadly machines,” according to a blog post. “Combat is tactical, reactive, and deeply skill-based, building on the tactical precision of the Horizon games while embracing the dynamics of team play.”

You’ll be able to select a character from a roster of “Hunters” with different play styles, and you can customize them with different roles and roguelike-style perks and upgrades. There will be a narrative campaign, and each of the Hunters “have their own motivations and personal struggles.”

The “foundation” of Horizon Hunters Gathering is focused on “challenging and replayable hunts.” The development team is initially showing off two game modes: “Machine Incursion, a high-intensity mission where waves of machines pour out from underground gateways, led by a formidable boss; and Cauldron Descent, a longer, multi-stage trial in which ever-changing rooms push Hunters to their limits, from brutal machine encounters to hidden doors that promise power and reward for teams prepared to open them.”

If you don’t want to play with other people, single-player is an option; instead, you’ll have two NPCs on your team, Sony says.

Sony hasn’t shared a specific release window for the game, but there will be a “small-scale closed playtest” coming at the end of February. You can sign up to potentially get access to it through the PlayStation Beta Program. Horizon Hunters Gathering will also support crossplay and cross-progression.

Although Sony has scaled back its live service ambitions, Horizon Hunters Gathering marks just the latest ongoing title from the company. It’s also developing an MMO in the Horizon universe called Horizon Steel Frontiers and is set to launch Marathon in March after a delay.

Guerrilla also wants you to know that it isn’t pivoting fully into multiplayer games. “We absolutely love making single-player games and we’re going to keep making them,” studio director Jan-Bart van Beek says in a video. “They’re a huge part of who we are as a studio.”