COVID-19 Pandemic Will Not Delay Horizon Forbidden West

Horizon Forbidden West still looks set to release this year, with Sony confirming that the COVID-19 pandemic has not had a major impact on Guerrilla Games’ upcoming sequel.

Speaking in an interview with GQ, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan explained that he doesn’t think the coronavirus situation will affect the release dates of its first-party titles.

Ryan specifically mentioned Hirozon Forbidden West alongside Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Returnal when asked about possible delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, saying all three are still set to launch in 2021.

“And, you know, there are two approaches to this: you can either hold the date and put out the game irrespective of quality or you can ship it when it’s right,” said Ryan in the interview. “We have always taken the latter approach. There have been some fairly high-profile instances of publishers trying the former approach.”

However, the PlayStation executive did admit that working from home adds extra stress and development time but was adamant that Sony would not push developers to release games too quickly.

While there is currently no firm release date for Horizon Forbidden West, an early commercial stated that it would launch in the second half of 2021.