VGC is reporting that multiple sources have informed them that SIE and Guerrilla Games are planning on turning Horizon Zero Dawn into a trilogy starting with the release of Horizon Zero Dawn 2 for the PlayStation 5.
The report suggests that Guerrilla had ambitions to tell Horizon Zero Dawn as a trilogy story early on in the development process of the original game, but that plan didn’t become formal until it was clear to everybody involved that the first game would be a success.
As it stands, it seems that developer Guerrilla Games originally intended to develop Horizon Zero Dawn 2 for the PlayStation 4. However, the report suggests that the development of that sequel has now moved to the PlayStation 5. While the current console timeline simply supports such a transition, it also sounds like Guerrilla’s ambitions for that sequel may have necessitated a move to more powerful hardware.
Said ambitions reportedly include not only a larger in-game world and more ambitious story, but the inclusion of a co-op mode. It seems that Guerrilla hoped to include a co-op mode in the original game, but it just wasn’t feasible at that time. This new co-op mode will either allow players to work through the main campaign together or otherwise play through a kind of side story designed specifically for that mode.