If a new report is to be believed, Horizon Forbidden West won’t be released this year, as was promised by Sony. The first quarter of 2022 is when the game will arrive on the PS5 and PS4, according to Bloomberg, which has quoted a source “familiar with the matter.”
There’s no particular reason to blame this delay on, however, as has been the case with so many games lately, COVID-19-related problems are easy to point fingers at. A similar reason was also behind the delay of Sony Santa Monica’s God of War: Ragnarok, which too is targetting a 2022 release now.
Clues about Horizon Forbidden West missing its release timeline were given by none other than PlayStation Studio head Hermen Hulst back in June. He had said, “For Horizon, we think we are on track to release this holiday season. But that isn’t quite certain yet, and we’re working as hard as we can to confirm that to you as soon as we can.”
Horizon Forbidden West was announced in June last year as a sequel to Zero Dawn. This iteration is set in post-apocalyptic San Francisco and follows the gameplay elements of its predecessor, offering an open-world environment filled with dangerous machines.
As the gameplay reveal posted above shows, underwater exploration will form part of this game as well, apart from enhanced melee combat, revamped climbing mechanics, and improved traversal options. It will follow the story of protagonist Aloy, who is sent on a quest to the Forbidden West in order to find the source of a mysterious plague that kills all it infects. The resemblance to current affairs is purely coincidental, we think!
Officially, Sony is still to confirm the delay of Horizon Forbidden West, but that news should arrive soon.