Summary
It may not be the most surprising announcement due to the game recently being put on ice and all, but the fact thatThe Last of Us’ standalone multiplayer game was canceled could have some intriguing implications for Sony and PlayStation’s near-future plans. This is obviously true for Naughty Dog’s sake since canceling itsLast of Us Onlinegame redirects the studio in time to course correct and not dump a bunch of resources into live-service efforts for it to not be worthwhile or satisfactory. However, at least one other PlayStation first-party franchise is reportedly getting a multiplayer game, too.
PlayStation has shown its cards lately and demonstrated that if one fad does well for it, there’s a high likelihood that it’ll attempt to replicate that success in other franchises. It’s fun to see that cohesion between first-party games, especially when it comes to Easter eggs referencing other first-party studios, but sinceReturnal’s successit also seems as if Sony wished to replicate that inGod of WarandThe Last of Uson a much smaller scale. Now, while Sony was hot on the idea of multiplayer live-service games,The Last of Us’ recent cancelation makes the future ofHorizon’s own multiplayer game dubious at best.
The Last of Us’ Multiplayer Cancelation Might Not Bode Well for the Horizon Franchise
If Naughty Dog Can’t Achieve Live-Service, Then Guerrilla Might Not, Either
This could also prove to be an issue for Guerrilla because, as Naughty Dog put it, the studio would seemingly need toshift from single-player games to live-service effortswithout enough leniency to truly work on both. If true,Horizon’s multiplayer game might need to consider the same ultimatum.
Naughty Dog claims to have shelvedUncharted, at leastfor the time being, and while it has other single-player games in development it hasn’t yet confirmed a new franchise or license adaptation in the works. Regardless, if one live-service game would’ve upended all of Naughty Dog’s plans, then there’s surely no way that Guerrilla could still put attention to its single-playerHorizonambitions and dedicate as much time toward a multiplayer game’s plethora of post-launch content, balances, updates, and other such necessities. If this same fate is to be avoided, Guerrilla’sHorizon Onlineproject may have already had its fate firmly sealed.
The only way thatHorizon’s multiplayer gamemight be salvageable whereasThe Last of Us’ wasn’t is due toHorizon’s game being developed by a new internal team, suggesting that it wouldn’t need to pool as many resources from the development of other endeavors. Only time will tell how this shapes out, but Guerrilla having particular teams for its live-service, single-player, and external developments is a more promising look.
The Last of Us and Horizon Sticking to Single-Player May Be for the Best
Of course, it would be incredible to see multiplayer-exclusive standalones from all these franchises, but if it’s unfeasible to balance both live-service games and single-player games then it’s almost assuredly going to be favorable for these studios to keep their status quo and continue making single-player games. Guerrilla is no different, whereHorizonis really only beginning to hit its true stride withForbidden Westand its Burning Shores DLC, and suddenly and jarringly swapping to an emphasis on live service could tarnish what that franchise has accomplished in its single-player merits.
Horizon Forbidden West
WHERE TO PLAY
Join Aloy as she braves a majestic but dangerous new frontier that holds mysterious new threats. This Complete Edition allows you to enjoy the critically acclaimed Horizon Forbidden West on PC in its entirety with bonus content, including the Burning Shores story expansion that picks up after the main game.Explore distant lands, fight bigger and more awe-inspiring machines, and encounter astonishing new tribes as you return to the far-future, post-apocalyptic world of Horizon.The land is dying. Vicious storms and an unstoppable blight ravage the scattered remnants of humanity while fearsome new machines prowl their borders, and life on Earth is hurtling toward another extinction.It’s up to Aloy to uncover the secrets behind these threats and restore order and balance to the world. Along the way, she must reunite with old friends, forge alliances with warring new factions and unravel the legacy of the ancient past.
