Sony And NCsoft Collaborating To Make A Horizon Zero Dawn-Based MMORPG

The Horizon series is one of the flagship projects of Sony that has been made immensely popular over the years. Looking at the possibility of cashing in more from the series, Sony is possibly working on an MMORPG based on Horizon Zero Dawn. The said game is rumored to be developed in collaboration with a Korean studio, NCsoft.

MAJOR TAKEAWAYS

• It has been reported by a Korean site that Sony and NCsoft are collaborating to make an MMORPG based on Horizon Zero Dawn.
• The site claimed to have talked to a source close to the collaboration deal between the two companies.
• The rumored game is said to be in development with NCsoft already posting job listings for the project.
• It is also rumored that it will be a live-service game.

The news was reported by a Korean news site, MTN.CO.KR, citing a source familiar with the collaboration deal between Sony and NCsoft.

NCsoft has long been a top MMORPG developer. The studio is known for developing and publishing games like Guild Wars and the Lineage series. It has a near monopoly on MMORPG mobile games in Korea and Taiwan.

The source, talking to the site on 8th Nov, said,

NCsoft has tentatively agreed to promote a business partnership to create a new game using Sony’s promising game IP. NCsoft’s internal development team is making it.”

According to the source, the Horizon-based game is already in development and the studios are looking to turn this one-time collaboration into a comprehensive business and partnership deal.

After starting game development, discussions are underway in the form of ‘pre-development and post-negotiation in which the two companies discuss collaboration and business partnership. There is a possibility that it will lead to a comprehensive partnership such as development,”

He further added, “Horizon IP is based on the open-world action RPG Horizon: Zero Dawn.”

NCsoft is already posting job listings under Project “H”, as the deal with Sony has not been made official yet. The rumored Horizon game is being developed by the “H” development team based in Lineage IP Headquarters.

Lineage IP HQ is tasked with developing and maintaining live-service games of the Lineage series, an MMORPG series developed by NCsoft.

According to the Korean site, the same development team previously had worked on an IP based on Guild Wars, an MMORPG developed by ArenaNet. But the project was later scrapped.

It is also rumored that the planned Horizon MMORPG will be a live-service game. That is in line with Sony’s strategy to make more live-service games and diversify its player base. NCsoft is also looking to increase its revenues after its Lineage series could not perform as well as expected.

When the site reached out to NCsoft for comment, they responded, “It is difficult to confirm information about unpublished projects that are currently under development.”

The response is only going to put more fire to those rumors as the statement does not deny the existence of the rumored Horizon project.

What do you think? Will this rumored Horizon MMORPG be as successful as the original series? Discuss in the comments section below.