Bloomberg: Sony and Guerrilla Reportedly Rework Horizon Hunters Gathering After Playtests

Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Sony Interactive Entertainment and Guerrilla Games have effectively restarted or substantially reworked development of Horizon Hunters Gathering, the newly announced multiplayer Horizon game for PlayStation 5 and PC, after negative feedback from playtesting. If accurate, the shift would mark a notable course correction for a high-profile first-party PlayStation project just months after its public reveal.

According to Bloomberg’s reporting, the rework includes removing live-service elements and reshaping the project into a smaller-scale, more traditional cooperative multiplayer game with an added story mode. Bloomberg also reported that the game has not been canceled.

The report, as cited by other outlets, said Guerrilla has been working on the overhaul since about June 2026. Bloomberg further reported that the studio has until the end of 2026 to deliver a milestone that satisfies Sony executives, and that some developers have been reassigned to other projects while that review is underway. Sony and Guerrilla have not publicly confirmed those details.

That makes the timeline especially striking. Guerrilla Games, Sony’s Amsterdam-based studio behind Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West, announced Horizon Hunters Gathering on Feb. 5 as a three-player cooperative action game set in the Horizon universe. At the time, PlayStation said the game was in development for PS5 and PC, would support cross-play between the two platforms and would feature a canon narrative campaign.

Guerrilla also said from the outset that testing would be part of development. In a PlayStation Blog post announcing the project, game director Arjan Bak said, “Throughout its development we’ve done extensive testing, patching, and feedback iteration.” The same announcement said the first small-scale closed playtest would begin in late February 2026.

Private testing continued after that reveal. A later closed playtest ran from May 22 through May 25, according to the game’s Steam Community listing. Taken together, the February announcement and the later Steam notice show that Horizon Hunters Gathering had already entered multiple rounds of closed testing before Bloomberg said the more significant internal rework began in June.

That sequence is what makes the report stand out. This is not an unannounced prototype quietly changing direction behind the scenes, but a publicly unveiled game tied to one of PlayStation’s best-known franchises. A substantial redesign so soon after announcement would suggest Sony and Guerrilla are responding quickly to internal and closed-test feedback rather than pushing ahead with the original plan.

For now, though, the clearest public picture remains incomplete. As of Aug. 19, neither Sony nor Guerrilla had issued a statement confirming or denying Bloomberg’s report about the project’s reported reboot, revised scope or internal deadline.