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Tag: Guerrilla Games

  • Sony Wants Its ‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ Movie to Hit Theaters in 2027

    Back in January, Sony announced a movie adaptation of Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn. Nothing has been said about the film since, but it sounds like there’s been enough progress that it may be a few years out.

    Sony’s currently in a legal battle against Chinese tech giant Tencent over the latter’s Light of Motiram, which Sony claims is an explicit clone of its sci-fi RPG series. Per the Game Post, PlayStation Productions head Asad Qizilbash has said in a legal declaration filed Ocotber 16 that the studio “already [has] a working script, and [is] actively searching for a director, with the goal of shooting the picture in 2026 and releasing it in 2027.”

    In that same declaration, Qizilbash also described series lead Aloy as “a key icon in the anticipated film” and important “to the flywheel of franchise building.”

    Initially, Horizon Zero Dawn was being prepared as a television series on Netflix a few years ago. But those plans fell apart in 2024 after intended co-showrunner Steven Blackman was accused of abuse and misconduct while in charge of the Umbrella Academy series. The show was scrapped shortly after the report was published, but Sony certainly doesn’t intend to give up. The Last of Us has been a hit on TV, and further movies and shows are intended for PlayStation properties like God of War, Ghost of Tsushima/Yotei, and Helldivers.

    If Horizon does land in 2027, the only question is, will it release before or after the Legend of Zelda movie drops on May 7 that year? Guerrilla’s game was famously overshadowed by Breath of the Wild releasing shortly after it came out in 2017. It would be a shame (albeit hilarious) to see that streak continue to the big screen.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

    Justin Carter

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  • Sony Names PlayStation’s New Bosses

    Sony Names PlayStation’s New Bosses

    Image: Sony

    Sony has named existing company veterans Hermen Hulst and Hideaki Nishino as the new heads of PlayStation. Hulst will take over and run a new Studio Business Group while Nishino is in charge of the Platform Business Group. The division of roles replaces former CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Jim Ryan, who retired earlier this year, and comes as Sony searches for its next PlayStation 5 blockbusters amid cost-cutting and cancellations.

    Thank You, PS Plus, For Making My Backlog Even Bigger

    “Sony Interactive Entertainment is a dynamic and growing business that delivers incredible entertainment experiences through the connection of content and technology,” interim SIE CEO Hiroki Totoki said in a press release. “These two leaders will have clear responsibilities and will manage strategic direction to ensure the focus remains on deepening engagement with existing PlayStation users and expanding experiences to new audiences.” Both will continue reporting to Totoki who is also Sony’s President, COO and CFO.

    Originally the head of Guerrilla Games, maker of Killzone and Horizon Zero Dawn, Hulst was promoted to head of PlayStation Studios in 2019 following the departure of Shawn Layden. He’s responsible for overseeing Sony’s first-party game development, including hits like Spider-Man 2 and God of War Ragnarök. Nishino was previously in charge of PlayStation platform technology and experiences, which he will continue to lead, in addition to now being in charge of third-party relations and commercial operations. Both men take over their new roles on June 1.

    Read More: What Hacked Files Tell Us About The Studio Behind Spider-Man 2

    Ryan announced he was stepping down from PlayStation after decades with the company last fall. Earlier this year, Sony announced a series of cost-cutting measures, including hundreds of layoffs and project cancellations at its studios, and the closure of London Studio. The changes come as big-budget game makers try to negotiate spiraling development costs and a stagnating console gaming market. Sony’s big annual spring PlayStation Showcase is rumored to be happening later this month, though the company previously confirmed that no major new sequels were planned to release in the current fiscal year.

    “I am thrilled to lead the Studio business group and continue to build on our success with PlayStation 5, while preparing for the future,” Hulst said in a press release. “The video game industry is one of the largest entertainment industries in the world and has been built on the marriage of content and technology, and I look forward to continuing to push the boundaries of play and entertainment.”

    Ethan Gach

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  • Guerrilla Confirms A Horizon Multiplayer Game Starring New Characters

    Guerrilla Confirms A Horizon Multiplayer Game Starring New Characters

    Concept art for Horizon Forbidden West shows Aloy fighting robots on her way to San Francisco.

    Image: Guerrilla Games / Sony

    While a Horizon multiplayer game felt all but inevitable, Guerrilla Games finally made the news official on Friday by way of a new job advertisement. The Sony studio behind the open world RPG series wants to take the post-apocalyptic robot combat online with an upcoming project featuring new characters and a different art-style.

    “A new internal team is developing a separate Online Project set in Horizon’s universe,” Guerrilla Games wrote on Twitter. “Featuring a new cast of characters and unique stylized look, friends will be able to explore the majestic wilds of Horizon together.” So don’t expect to teaming up with Aloy and her other friends this time around.

    Job listings for the new game include character, quest, and combat designers, as well as “stylized” world artists and character animators. From the descriptions, it sounds like what you’d expect from the creators of Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, but with a multiplayer twist. The references to a new art direction, meanwhile, might hint at a different set of visual tradeoffs from a studio traditionally at the forefront of visual fidelity, in order to accommodate the new cooperative gameplay.

    Guerrilla also makes clear that it’s still working on a new single-player installment in the Horizon series, in addition to the PSVR2 spin-off, Horizon Call of the Mountain, and Forbidden West DLC, Burning Shores, the latter two both due out early in 2023. There are also job listings for an external project, though it’s not clear exactly what that is.

    Rumors of a Horizon multiplayer project have been swirling around for a while now, including a report of a Horizon MMO being licensed out to Guild Wars publisher NCsoft. The multiplayer push comes as other major Sony first-party franchises have made the jump to online, including Ghost of Tsushima’s co-op raid update, and an upcoming multiplayer-only Last of Us spin-off.

    Following its $3.6 billion acquisition of Bungie, whose successful MMO shooter Destiny 2 has become one of the gold standards in live-service gaming, Sony revealed plans to release over a dozen more live-service games by 2025. If the past few years have been any indication, not all of them will succeed, and few if any will reach the levels of Apex Legends, Genshin Impact, and other recent breakout hits. With a growing majority of all gaming companies’ revenue coming from microtransactions and other “recurrent player spending,” it’s easy to see why Sony would try.

                

    Ethan Gach

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