NCSoft, the developer of Lineage and Guild Wars, is reportedly teaming up with Sony to create an MMORPG based on one of Sony’s blockbuster IPs.

Korea’s MTN reported that the South Korean company is involved in Sony’s live service expansion as they develop an unannounced project for an international market. The code name is also suspicious: in their job advertisements, they refer to it as Project H. NCSoft’s global communications office has reportedly said that it is difficult for them to comment on projects currently under development.

According to the VGC, Guerrilla Games, the franchise’s development team, has long been planning to make Horizon into some form of multiplayer. Horizon Zero Dawn, which was released for PlayStation 4 in 2017 (and then received a PC port), was initially supposed to have co-op options, but the studio decided to focus on other parts of the game instead. The theme resurfaced in the sequel, Horizon Forbidden West (where Sony has already pushed the team in that direction). Still, Guerrilla said the idea would be better suited to another project (a standalone online spin-off? or Horizon 3?).

Last year, Guerrilla started looking for people for an online game, but since then, we still don’t know if it’s a Horizon-related project. For example, a senior community systems designer was expected to engage players in “social interactions to create lasting relationships, and where compatible… create Guild-like groups to explore together.” And another position, a senior writer (perhaps linked to the same project) is expected to have “extensive knowledge of stories and narrative design in open-world RPG games, online games, and MMORPGs [to create] mission, quest writing and narrative design.”

It’s unclear whether NCSoft will work on the Horizon IP. We know that Horizon Call of the Mountain will be among the PlayStation VR2 launch titles in February. There is also supposedly a PlayStation 5 remaster of Horizon Zero Dawn in the works (why…?).

Source: VGC