A Horizon MMO was said to be in the works since last year, but with several Games as a Service (GAAS) titles canceled by Sony studios this year, it wasn’t expected to see the light of day. NCSoft, a South Korean video game developer and publisher, was said to be recruiting for a project codenamed Project H in their recruitment posts.
There were no official announcements by NCSoft at that time. Earlier this month, a new domain registered by NCSoft revealed more details about the untitled project. There are also speculations that the entire project might be for a mobile game, but for now, here are the details leaked by popular leaker Kurakasis on X.
New Details About the Rumored Horizon MMO Emerge
Well-known video games researcher and leaker Kurakasis is at it again, having posted new details by NCSoft. A domain was registered by NCSoft earlier this month under the name Land of Salvation and is said to have been registered on the same day, the 12th of this month, as domains for NCSoft’s other projects which were announced already.
Those announced projects include Project LLL, an open-world third-person shooter MMO, Puzzup Amitoi, a puzzle game, and Project G, a real-time strategy game. Last year, the rumors stated Sony and NCSoft working together to bring an action MMORPG which was considered a step by SIE as part of its push towards more live-service games.
Guerilla Games was said to have long-term plans to expand the Horizon franchise by introducing a multiplayer option. The first title in the franchise was also said to have included plans to include a co-op mode. The plan didn’t go any further as the studio as the studio planned to focus on the single-player mode and story.
On the other hand, the unannounced MMORPG title by NCSoft could still end up being a mobile game, as the studio has launched highly successful titles like Lineage which was ported to mobile devices back in 2017. Even if it does end up being a mobile game, an MMORPG title will only serve to confirm that Sony’s not completely abandoning its GAAS plans.
NCSoft Announced a Strategic Partnership with SIE Last Month
NCSoft announced having signed a strategic partnership with Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) late last month. NCSoft mentioned that the partnership was a move to expand the audience “across and beyond genres and regions.” SIE CEO Jim Ryan mentioned that the partnership will help expand SIE’s strategy “beyond console” and expand the audience.
One of the most awaited GAAS titles by SIE was Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Online, a spinoff from The Last of Us but since the eventual cancelation of that title, SIE’s move towards more such titles was considered to be shelved.
Sony’s acquisition of Bungie led to the gaming community waiting for Marathon, an extraction shooter which also eventually ended up not seeing the light of day. It remains unclear whether or not the title will be permanently shelved after the massive layoffs at Bungie or if it will be revived a year or two later. Concord was announced by SIE around May this year and is said to be a PVP multiplayer first-person shooter.
As for confirmed GAAS titles, there’s Helldivers 2, which was announced earlier this year and even received a teaser and release date trailer only to get delayed to next year. The third-person squad-based title now has a confirmed release date of 8th February next year.
Several live-service games were announced by the gaming giant only to be delayed as revealed during the company’s earnings call this year. The titles were pushed to either next year or a year or two later. With the two major live-service game developers, Naughty Dog which canceled its multiplayer project, and Bungie which delayed their plans after a massive round of layoffs, Sony was expected to concentrate on single-player titles going forward, up until now.
With the Horizon GAAS title being under development and rumors of an imminent announcement getting stronger, SIE may well be getting back to reviving its plans for more live-service games soon.
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