Earlier immediately, PlayStation and Guerrilla revealed Horizon Hunters Gathering, the following entry within the well-liked post-apocalyptic franchise. However this spin-off is a multiplayer-focused on-line co-op motion sport that appears lots like Monster Hunter meets Future. It can obtain updates post-launch, and oh, wait, it is a live-service sport. Oh no, this was a nasty time to announce Hunters Gathering.
I’m undecided a colourful, cartoonish online-only spin-off of the photorealistic solo single-player open-world collection Horizon would have been a smash hit with terminally on-line followers at any level. However proper now, of all occasions, feels one of many worst doable moments to disclose Hunters Gathering to a world large internet primed to make a Kombucha Woman face at the whole lot it’s doing. The final two years have been affected by the corpses of failed, cancelled, or still-dying live-service video games. A number of gamers are, understandably, bored with this stuff and uncertain of whether or not they need to even make investments any time into caring, as so many appear to flop or shut down.
The hunt is on.
Step into the world of Horizon Hunters Gathering, a brand new co-op motion sport from Guerrilla coming to PS5 and PC: pic.twitter.com/BCjSquv30R
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) February 5, 2026
It was simply final month that Highguard launched and was then instantly trashed by a big portion of gamers. The live-service PvP shooter debuted on the Sport Awards, launched with over 90k lively gamers on Steam, and now, lower than two weeks after launch, is struggling to succeed in 5,000 gamers and is nowhere to be seen on any of my social feeds. Earlier than that, Harmony, a earlier try by Sony to make a live-service sport, infamously crashed and burned in lower than two weeks. Marathon, the following sport from PlayStation-owned Bungie, has had a really rocky rollout ever because it confirmed it was an online-only live-service expertise, making me nervous about its future whilst sentiment on-line appears to be slowly rebounding in its favor.
There are such a lot of extra live-service video games that appear to be struggling to exist in an period when most individuals are simply enjoying Roblox, Fortnite, GTA On-line, or DOTA 2 without end. As reported by TheGamer, most of the live-service video games launched in 2025 have misplaced most of their gamers, in keeping with SteamDB. And whereas there are just a few current exceptions, like Arc Raiders and Marvel Rivals, it’s actually, actually arduous to interrupt into the market and keep round. Even temporary vibrant spots, like final yr’s mini-breakout MOBA Supervine, ultimately lose steam.
All of those makes an attempt to carve out a sustainable multiplayer area of interest during the last two years have whittled down gamers’ persistence. At this level, each live-service multiplayer factor will get dunked on relentlessly the second it’s introduced. Certain, a few of that negativity is simply assholes drafting off the “hate the whole lot” digital ecosystems on TikTok and YouTube. However a number of it’s also simply individuals bored with extra video games that ask a ton of their gamers with out first incomes it, solely to ultimately pay it again with a shutdown discover screenshot on social media.
That is the surroundings that Sony has introduced Horizon Hunters Gathering into, and it shouldn’t shock anybody that a number of the reactions to the sport are individuals saying they’ve zero curiosity or actively calling it dangerous. Are you able to blame them? The final two years have proven that live-service video games are vulnerable to failure, more likely to collapse shortly after launch, and never price trying out should you already play one or two of them, like Fortnite. Possibly that’s why they slipped it out in a PlayStation Weblog publish as an alternative of a correct State of Play showcase.
So, whereas I believe Hunters Gathering seems to be neat and might be enjoyable, I’m nicely conscious that someday I’ll doubtless be writing a narrative about the way it’s not getting updates and is shutting off the in-game microtransaction store. You’ll learn that headline on X or Reddit, go “Oh proper, that sport…” after which simply preserve scrolling by. It’s arduous to get too excited a couple of new sport, even from a PlayStation studio, when that destiny already feels sealed. Possibly particularly from a PlayStation studio.
