With the impending debut of the Oculus Rift, rumors swirling around the Nintendo NX and dozens of games already on the calendar, gamers have no shortage of reasons to be excited about the new year. But, as someone far more invested in character action than multiplayer mayhem, I can’t think of many better reasons to be excited about 2016 than the launch of Horizon Zero Dawn.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, Horizon Zero Dawn is the latest project from Guerrilla Games; a studio best known for its work on the Killzone franchise. HZD is a significant departure from the studio’s past work and nowhere is that more evident than the decision to ignore the multiplayer action bolted onto most new big-budget games. From what we can tell, Horizon Zero Dawn won’t have any form of multiplayer, instead focusing on delivering the most enticing single-player experience that Guerrilla Games can get running on PS4 hardware.
While that might come as a bit of a shock to some corners of the PlayStation community, which has a thriving multiplayer scene these days, Horizon Zero Dawn executive producer Mark Norris explained the studio’s rationale in a new interview with IGN Latin America. The talk, which has since been partially translated by Gaming Bolt, deals with a variety of topics, including the inspirations behind Horizon Zero Dawn and the challenges in moving from first-person shooters to third-person action games. But it was the producer’s answer to a question about the game’s lack of multiplayer that caught our attention.
“There are questions as to why a multiplayer will not do. The reality is that we are putting together a new IP. We are making a new franchise…and what we really want to do is improve the experience for the player,” Norris told IGN. “But what happens when you take the elements of multiplayer? You play as a supporting character? How does that work?”
Head over to IGN Latin America to see the complete interview with Horizon Zero Dawn executive producer Mark Norris. Or, if you’d just like to see some gameplay footage, take a few minutes to check out the Horizon Zero Dawn gameplay demo shown during Paris Games Week:
Horizon Zero Dawn is being developed exclusively for PlayStation 4. The game is currently expected to debut sometime later this year.
Be sure to check back with iDigitalTimes.com and follow Scott on Twitter for more Horizon Zero Dawn coverage throughout 2016 and for however long Guerrilla Games continues to support Horizon Zero Dawn in the months following launch.