During today’s State of Play stream, Sony showed off gameplay for Horizon: Forbidden West, which is coming out for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4. However, we did not get a release date during the presentation. The last time we got a target release window, Sony was saying to expect it during the second half of this year.
Forbidden West is the sequel to Horizon: Zero Dawn, which launched for PlayStation 4 back in 2017. It also came out for PC via Steam in 2020. Horizon is an open-world action game that takes place in a post-apocalyptical Earth, one in which humanity has been taken back to a pre-industrial civilization. Oh, and watch out for the giant robot monsters.
Developer Guerrilla Games confirmed that it has no release date yet for Forbidden West.
Thanks for watching our #HorizonForbiddenWest gameplay reveal! We don't have an exact release date just yet, but development is on track and we will have an update for you very soon – thank you as always for your ongoing support!
— Guerrilla (@Guerrilla) May 27, 2021
Zero Dawn was a hit, selling over 10 million copies and making a sequel all but certain. Forbidden West is tasked with taking the strong start and establishing a genuine gaming franchise.
Forbidden West takes place in, you know, the Western part of the U.S., specifically California (somewhat more flooded than we’re used to), Utah, and Nevada. Zero Dawn was set in states like Colorado and Utah. During the State of Play, Sony and developer Guerrilla Games showed off a large chunk of PS5 gameplay, which included some colorful visuals and an underwater swimming section taking place near the ruins of San Francisco.
Action, just like in the first game, combines a mixture of stealth, melee fighting, and ranged bow attacks. The demonstration also included an intense fight with something that looked like a robotic Oliphaunt from The Lord of the Rings. The battle ended when Aloy attacked the weak point on its belly for massive damage.
COVID has caused issues with gaming development around the industry, which may be a reason why Sony doesn’t want to commit to a hard release date just yet. Still, it’s likely that Forbidden West will be the company’s big holiday release.