Horizon Zero Dawn was a standout release of 2017, combining a gorgeous open world that offered a unique fusion of robot and wildlife with an emotional, engaging story throughout.
Despite the fact developer Guerrilla Games has yet to actually confirm a sequel, the game’s critical and commercial success all but guarantees Sony will be using Aloy to launch a brand new PlayStation franchise to rival the likes of Uncharted and… erm, Parappa the Rapper.
As such, official information on Horizon Zero Dawn 2 is fairly thin on the ground right now, but we can piece together a few things based on clues, speculation, and outright wishful thinking. Straight up, we can absolutely be sure the sequel will be PS4 exclusive, just like its predecessor.
The massive success of Horizon Zero Dawn led to Guerrilla taking on a massive expansion. At some point in 2019 (presumably sooner rather than later) the studio is to move into a new five-floor office located in the former Telegraaf building on the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal in Amsterdam, implying that their next project is likely to be something huge.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t really give us any insight into whether or not development has actually started yet, but we’d imagine they’re certainly gearing up.
So what of the game’s story? It’s safe to assume that the game will follow on from the original’s post-credit tease, showing Sylens with a captured HADES, no doubt ready to do something evil.
Will we continue to follow Aloy across the land, or see things through the eyes of a new playable character? Previous comments from Hermen Hulst, Managing Director and co-founder of Guerrilla Games, suggests the former.
He told GamesRadar:
She’s really uncovered some of the main mysteries in the world, but how do you feel when you finish the story? Are there questions that come up that you want to relive and answer for Aloy? It was not difficult for us to build the Frozen Wilds and tell that story through Aloy. The environments and the world that we’ve put together easily raise more questions.
In terms of gameplay, we can probably safely assume that there’ll be new weapons, features, machines, and more to play around with, but we are still in the dark with all that. I’m not clutching at straws, you are.
For now, Horizon Zero Dawn 2 remains an enigma, but I think it’s all the better for that. If the first game proved anything, it’s that Guerrilla Games has created a world that’s best discovered entirely for yourself.
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.