‘Horizon Forbidden West’ release date: More clues hint at sequel’s delay to 2022

Sony PlayStation and Guerilla Games have yet to provide an update on the development of “Horizon Forbidden West.” However, reports and the clues that suggest the game could be delayed to next year continue to pile up.

The latest indication that “Horizon Forbidden West” is likely getting delayed comes directly from PlayStation. A blog post for German customers published recently summed up some of the biggest games lined up to launch in August and throughout the remaining months of 2021.

The list includes “Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut,” “Aliens: Fireteam Elite,” “Kena: Bridge of Spirits,” “Life Is Strange: True Colors,” “Tales of Arise,” “Deathloop,” Battlefield 2042,” “Ghostrunner,” and “GTA V: Expanded and Enhanced.” “Horizon Forbidden West” was notably missing from the blog post, which is even more suspicious considering that it is a first-party PlayStation game.

Sony and Guerilla have yet to address speculations on a release date delay, but this was not the first time “Horizon Forbidden West” was reported to miss its 2021 launch. In late July, gaming journalist Jason Schreier reported on Bloomberg that developers have internally decided to push the release date to the first quarter of 2022. Schreier’s report corroborated a slightly earlier tip from gaming insider Jeff Grubb, who also discussed the game’s potential delay at a Giant Bomb podcast.

Per the latest official updates, the game is slated to launch this holiday. But every week, it seems like more clues come to light to suggest that the game is more likely to be delayed. And if this is the case, it is unclear why Sony is holding off on the announcement, especially since the company and the developer have both made subtle hints at the possible changes in the game’s launch timeline.

When the developer released a 14-minute gameplay demo in June, Guerilla Games Narrative Director Ben McCaw said in a blog post that the development was still on track even though they do not have an exact release date yet. In early June, PlayStation Studio head Hermen Hulst seemed to have echoed what McCaw said but with a slight caveat.

“For [‘Horizon Forbidden West’], we think we are on track to release this holiday season. But that isn’t quite certain yet,” Hulst said. “And we’re working as hard as we can to confirm that to you as soon as we can.”