As part of G-Star 2025, NCsoft has introduced the MMORPG set in the Horizon universe for the first time and showcased a lot of gameplay. A large part of the community is very pleased with the scenes shown.
What is known about the game? For 3 years now, rumors have persisted that NCsoft (Aion, Guild Wars 2) is developing an MMORPG for Sony’s Horizon universe (with games like Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West).
In early 2025, confusion arose, as the publisher was said to have canceled several projects. At times, the Horizon MMORPG was also mentioned in these reports. However, the original source ultimately clarified that this development is still ongoing. Due to the lack of an official statement from NCsoft, there was a question mark behind all this.
This question mark turned into an exclamation point at G-Star 2025 last night. The Horizon MMORPG lives on and is officially called Horizon Steel Frontiers. NCsoft and the franchise creators at Guerrilla Games are working together on the project.
There is no release date yet, but the game is expected to be released for PC (initially only on NCsoft’s platform Purple) and Mobile, featuring crossplay and cross-progression. Other MMOs from NCsoft have shown in the past that a release on Steam is likely. You can see the first gameplay trailer below:
Monster Hunter gets competition
Clearly Horizon: The approximately 3 minutes of gameplay should provide many fans of the Horizon games with relief. The design of the world and the battles, where you must shoot at enemy weaknesses, are clearly based on the main games of the series. Despite the mobile version, the detailed graphics are impressive.
In a concurrently released developer video over 10 minutes long on YouTube (see also below), the developers reveal that Steel Frontiers takes you to the Deadlands, which is said to have been inspired by original locations in Arizona and New Mexico. In the Deadlands, you should encounter “thousands of other players”.
Horizon Steel Frontiers is designed to offer both cooperative (hunting monsters together) and competitive content (battles between tribes, competition in resource gathering). You navigate the world on foot, on mounts, or with the help of a grapple hook.
The story is not neglected, as shown by some scenes featuring elaborately staged sequences and dialogues. Unlike in the main series of Horizon games, you can create your own character in the editor of Steel Frontiers.
How is the community reacting to the announcement? The reactions of many players are positive, even though some are concerned about the platform plans. Many feel reminded of a certain monster series by Capcom.
- Franco.FRANKU writes on YouTube: “This looks like a Monster Hunter … and I really like that.”
- zackabean agrees on YouTube: “This looks like a Monster Hunter, I’m excited.”
- ShinyRyuji is torn on YouTube: “This looks fantastic, but I don’t want to play it on mobile. PS5, please.”
- Frøst-PS adds on YouTube: “This looks fantastic, and as a Horizon fan, it’s a slap in the face that it’s not coming to PS5. It feels like we’re having another ‘Don’t you all have phones?’ situation.”
With this, Frøst-PS refers to the announcement of Diablo Immortal, which was met with critical boos from BlizzCon attendees. The main reason: A major Diablo announcement had been promised in advance, but then they just announced “only” a mobile Diablo. The awkward reaction of the developers was to ask the audience if they didn’t have any phones. You can learn more about this here: Blizzard has a BlizzCon trauma: That’s why they don’t show their hottest new game
