Horizon Forbidden West blew gamers away with its gameplay demonstration last week, as the fourteen minutes of footage showed off improved melee combat and stunning visuals. Fans now know why the game looked so polished, as it turns out that Horizon Forbidden West is nearing the end of its development.
While fans were excited about what they saw from Horizon Forbidden West last week, many were surprised about the lack of a release date. PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst commented on this in a recent interview, confirming that a holiday release for Horizon Forbidden West is still the plan. However, Guerrilla Games does not want to make a release date announcement until it is certain that there will be no delays for the game’s launch. Fortunately, fans have a new reason to be confident in the game launching later this year.
In an interview with Hardware Zone, Horizon Forbidden West game director Mathjis de Jonge confirmed that the game is out of beta and is in the “final stages” of development. According to de Jonge, the game is currently being polished, with all the gameplay elements and quests designed and fully complete. He also adds that some of the machines are “behind schedule,” confirming that this is one of the areas still being worked on. With many fans requesting flying mounts in addition to the ground-based ones from Horizon Forbidden West’s new gameplay, many are likely hoping these are the machines being worked on.
There is no clarification on which machines are taking an “enormous amount of time” to build. Given how detailed each machine is, and how series protagonist Aloy can break them apart through fights, this process being time consuming makes sense. Alongside this specific issue on the machines still being worked on, de Jonge confirms that the story is nearly complete. Specifically, the “final cinematic” is being worked on right now, confirming that Guerrilla truly is approaching the end of the game’s development.
With months left to finish this polishing and machine creation, it certainly seems like the game will launch this year. At the same time, de Jonge reiterates that the game’s launch date “isn’t quite certain yet.” As such, gamers will need to wait a bit longer to know if 2021 is Horizon Forbidden West’s year. As for when the launch date could be revealed, Sony’s version of an E3 conference will likely hold that answer. While the company will not be at E3 itself, it is rumored to hold its own showcase sometime in June or July, giving fans another chance to get a release date.
For now, though, Horizon Forbidden West fans have a good reason to be optimistic about the game’s development. With everything going smoothly as Guerrilla Games approaches the finish line, players could be battling some new machines very soon.
Horizon Forbidden West is scheduled to release for PS4 and PS5 in 2021.
Source: Hardware Zone
