The unveiling of Horizon Steel Frontiers undoubtedly raised numerous questions for both fans of the franchise and the genre. How will it work, exactly? The games were single player only, except for the kid-friendly spin-off LEGO Horizon Adventures. Thankfully, IGN was able to obtain some answers in an interview with Executive Producer Sunggu Lee. To start, Lee admitted that the co-op hunting action featured in CAPCOM’s Monster Hunter series was a heavy inspiration for Steel Frontiers:
Monster Hunter was definitely one of the key inspirations for Steel Frontiers. When we started expanding Horizon’s core concept of hunting massive machines into a multiplayer experience, the cooperative hunting system from the Monster Hunter series felt like a natural reference point. From the very beginning, combining Horizon’s rich world with the hunting-action genre just made sense. And when you add Horizon’s unique machine ecosystem, the part-breaking mechanics, and its deep storytelling, you get something that feels truly distinctive—an experience that’s uniquely Steel Frontiers.
Horizon Steel Frontiers is going to be an MMORPG set in the world originally created by Guerrilla Games. As such, it’s no big surprise that Lee mentions towns and guilds as key systems in the game:
In Horizon Steel Frontiers, towns and guilds are really the heart of the community. Towns act as central hubs where players gather, prepare for hunts, and naturally connect with others. Out in the field, you might team up spontaneously with players you meet, or join forces in planned, strategic co-op play to take down tougher machines. These moments — whether unexpected or carefully coordinated — help strengthen bonds between players. And of course, we support all the core social features you’d expect from an MMORPG, like friends lists, chat, and party systems, so players can communicate and collaborate seamlessly.
The Executive Producer also discussed the changes to the combat system. Whereas Guerrilla’s single player games are notoriously centered on ranged combat, the gameplay footage already showed that this will be a lot more melee-focused, and players will have to decide when to dodge and when to attack the machines. As an MMORPG, the game will support small parties to mid-sized raids, because truly large-scale raids would be confusing with this type of combat.
Despite Guerrilla promising some competition between tribes in the announcement video, Sunggu Lee says that the core content’s focus is on PvE elements. No comment was made regarding the possible inclusion of Aloy or other characters. On the other hand, Lee confirmed that the game is powered by Unreal Engine 5 instead of the Decima Engine.
Horizon Steel Frontiers is targeting a late 2026/early 2027 launch window on PC and mobile, although NCSOFT is hoping to get Guerrilla (and Sony) to agree to port the game to PlayStation 5, too.
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