Guerrilla Games' Horizon Multiplayer: Aiming High or Playing it Safe?

Guerrilla Games' upcoming Horizon multiplayer game is generating significant buzz, with recent evidence suggesting ambitious player projections or perhaps a cautious approach to avoid launch-day server issues.

A recent job posting for a Senior Platform Engineer at Guerrilla highlights a requirement for "proven experience building and operating multi-service, 1M+ user globally distributed systems." This strongly suggests the studio anticipates a player base exceeding one million, indicating high confidence in the game's appeal. The focus on robust live-service infrastructure capable of handling this scale points towards a significant investment in preventing server overload.

However, this massive scalability could also be a preventative measure. The launch of Helldivers 2 experienced significant server strain due to unexpected popularity, highlighting the potential pitfalls of underestimating player interest. Guerrilla may be learning from this experience, proactively building a system capable of handling a large influx of players to ensure a smooth launch for their Horizon multiplayer title.

While the official announcement remains pending, previous job listings dating back to 2018 and a recent hint at a new Horizon game release in 2025 further solidify the existence of this project. Given the years of development, and assuming no unforeseen complications, a reveal within 2025 seems increasingly likely. Whether this reflects genuinely high expectations or a strategic move to avoid a repeat of Helldivers 2's launch issues, only time will tell. The scale of the planned infrastructure, however, certainly points towards a significant undertaking.