Unannounced Horizon MMO Reportedly Cancelled by NCSOFT

[T0@st]

An industry mole—familiar with internal NCSOFT activities—believes that three game development projects have been cancelled: Pantera, H, and J. Past speculation has pointed to "Project H" being an announced Horizon MMO title—based on evidence that emerged shortly after the announced formation of a "strategic global business partnership" between Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) and NCSOFT (back in 2023). Reportedly, Jim Ryan—the now former CEO and chairman of SIE—spearheaded PlayStation's concerted push into multi-faceted "live service" development cycles. Industry oracle, Jason Schreier, questioned the prioritization of "games as a service"—his late 2023 predictions seem very prescient, when looking at the present day landscape.

Last week, reports suggested two unannounced Sony-owned live-service games being placed on the proverbial chopping board. Bluepoint's much rumored "God of War" project was quietly canned according to Schreier's Bloomberg column, as well as a mysterious Bend Studios-produced title. NCSOFT's Project H—also known as "Skyline"—appears to be the victim of an internal "feasibility review." Target platforms were reported to be PC and mobile—therefore placing Project H/Skyline in a separate tranche; distinct from another online-oriented Horizon game. Franchise originator—Guerrilla Games—is reportedly still toiling away (with Bungie's guidance) on an upcoming multiplayer-focused release for PlayStation 5 home consoles.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[lexluthermiester]

Canceling an MMO? How sad... /s

Now they should get the lead out making Forbidden West available on GOG.
@ Guerilla/NCSOFT/Sony
Seriously folks, let's get on it, eh?

EDIT: Correction for accuracy.

 

[neatfeatguy]

Only thing from NCSoft I liked playing was Aion when it first came out. Played the hell out of it for about 9 months. I think it's still around as "free to play", but the game is pretty much just an empty vessel that, to my understanding, is just that - empty. Almost no subscribers here on the State server. I can't speak for any "free" accounts. I'm surprised they still run servers for it.

The last NCSoft MMO game that came out was the one so many people were excited for was Throne and Liberty - I tried it, but I absolutely hated it. The game play on the PC wasn't designed for PC, you can tell they took the mobile game and tried to get it to work on the PC and it plays like crap. Also, I've outgrown the animation style they use in all their games...plus I detest the high-pitched girl voice that is used in Asian games, it's worse than nails on a chalk board to me. Just awful.

If a supposed Horizon MMO game was in the works under NCSoft and it was supposed to be a PC and mobile game, I can understand why it got the chop based on my Throne and Liberty experience.

 

[tpuuser256]

MMOs are fancy casinos, not worth playing without friends
I've played MMOs quite a bit in my teenage years and I only remember the lore, story and world. All of which are much better implemented in proper single player games.

 

[TechLurker]

Only thing from NCSoft I liked playing was Aion when it first came out. Played the hell out of it for about 9 months. I think it's still around as "free to play", but the game is pretty much just an empty vessel that, to my understanding, is just that - empty. Almost no subscribers here on the State server. I can't speak for any "free" accounts. I'm surprised they still run servers for it.

It's because Blade & Soul cannibalized from the Aion playerbase, and Aion split into Aion and Aion Classic further fragmenting the already fragmented playerbase. Moreso with Classic getting more updates and going an alternate route where they didn't remove the crafting system, didn't release the Spellsinger (yes, song-magic via magical instruments), Gunslinger, and Aethertech classes, and instead added alternate new classes. And now, Aion 2 is coming in Fall/Winter 2025, which will take lessons learned from Aion and Aion Classic and combine them into a new sequel using UE5, a more responsive combat system, and a greater focus on PvE and a grand story, rather than Aion's risk vs rewards setup of being all PvPvE in most zones and the risk of getting ganked while one was just doing simple gathering quests.

In parallel, B&S is also getting a remake under B&S Neo which reduces player pain points with the original and makes it more accessible.

So at any rate, Aion's inevitable shutdown is closing in. I did log in after nearly 5 years just to explore it in a bit of nostalgia, and I admit I miss my time on it, and the lore that drew me to it in the first place. It's also one of the very rare MMOs that had true verticality with the ability to fly and fight in certain zones.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

MMOs are fancy casinos, not worth playing without friends

But the friends...

Are the ones we make a long the way.

I started playing Guildwars 1 in 2006. And by the time I departed that game some 8-10years later after most people had already left to go play other MMOs. Im still IRL friends with a handful of the people I used to play with ingame.

Unfortunately they were all a bunch of dudes pretending to be sweaty PvP/PvE try hards. I did meet a few girls a long the way but while we teamed together. Talked on Mumble/Ventrillo/steam they didnt stay in touch with any of the people in group.

So thats 20+ years of friendship from a damn game. And we still meet for beer and BBQ occasionally. Its rarer now since most of them have all gone their own way. had kids/completed their studies etc but we still keep in touch and call each other by our ingame names. Old habits die hard.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Good riddance.

The world does not need a solid single player franchise getting turned into another F2P/Live Service/GAAS shitpile.

 

[Dorek]

But the friends...

Are the ones we make a long the way.

I started playing Guildwars 1 in 2006. And by the time I departed that game some 8-10years later after most people had already left to go play other MMOs. Im still IRL friends with a handful of the people I used to play with ingame.

Unfortunately they were all a bunch of dudes pretending to be sweaty PvP/PvE try hards. I did meet a few girls a long the way but while we teamed together. Talked on Mumble/Ventrillo/steam they didnt stay in touch with any of the people in group.

So thats 20+ years of friendship from a damn game. And we still meet for beer and BBQ occasionally. Its rarer now since most of them have all gone their own way. had kids/completed their studies etc but we still keep in touch and call each other by our ingame names. Old habits die hard.

Haha same for me but with world of warcraft, and we do meet irl occasionally kinda everyone from all over europe.