14 DAY TRIAL // Before the week of delays is over we have one more name to add to the list of developers that decided to push back the release of its game: Sony. The Japanese company reportedly delayed one of the most anticipated games of 2021 – Horizon Forbidden West, according to a person familiar with the matter Bloomberg reports.
Although Horizon Forbidden West didn't have a release date, we were expecting the game to drop sometime this holiday season. Sony has yet to officially confirm the delay, which might not come until the next “State of Play” showcase.
Horizon Forbidden West is only the most recent Sony first-party title to be delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which wreaked havoc in the gaming industry since many studios were not able to cope with “distance work” immediately. The sequel to 2018's God of War has been delayed too and is now expected to arrive next year.
One of the most successful games developed by Guerilla Games, one of Europe's leading game development companies and a wholly-owned subsidiary of SIEE (Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe), Horizon Zero Dawn sold more than 10 million copies following its release in 2017.
The sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, is in development for both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 platforms. Just like the previous game, Horizon Forbidden West is an open-world action-adventure set in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by cybernetic dinosaurs.
Back in June, PlayStation Studio head Hermen Hulst, formerly managing director of Guerilla Games, said that Horizon Forbidden West is still “on track to release this holiday season.” However, he went on to say that “that isn't quite certain yet, and we're working as hard as we can to confirm that to you as soon as you can.”
Unfortunately, it looks like a delay is imminent, but that could only mean a better game and a healthy dev team, so we're supporting the decision.