New rumors that are spreading suggest that NCSoft has decided to cancel its planned MMO project based on the "Horizon Zero Dawn" franchise.
For years, fans have known that Sony and NCSoft were working together to bring a form of MMORPG set within the "Horizon Zero Dawn" universe. However, those rumors have now seemingly been put to a halt.
Canceled Horizon Zero Dawn MMO
Even a year ago, job listings suggested that the "Horizon Zero Dawn" MMO was being developed in Unreal Engine 5. They also showed that it was planned to be released for PC and mobile devices and had roughly 140 people on its team.
However, new reports suggest that the project is one of the titles NCSoft has decided to put an end to following a "feasibility review." It seems like the developers working on the game will be moved to different projects instead of being laid off, according to MassivelyOP.
Fans may already know that NCSoft experienced financial struggles throughout last year following the decline of its mobile games. This also came as "Throne & Liberty," which was a commercial flop in South Korea before it came to the West.
The situation forced the studio to conduct a large-scale organizational restructuring and resulted in it rebranding itself. The worst part of this was that these efforts also came alongside layoffs of many employees.
Decline of Live Service Games
The rumors surrounding the potential cancellation of the "Horizon Zero Dawn" MMO comes less than a week after Sony axed two live service projects.
These include one from Bluepoint based on the "God of War" franchise as well as another one from Bend, Forbes said.
It was claimed that some of NCSoft's new games and live games received a notice of the decision to stop development or service. The development also resulted in concerns regarding work on "Pantera," which is also known as "Raise Lineage M."
The "Horizon Zero Dawn" MMO was long believed to be "Project H" to the point that the game's Fandom wiki page claims it has been confirmed through past reporting and job listings. So far, it is still unclear whether the issue is solely NCSoft's responsibility or if other factors are at play.
Sony and NCSoft signed a partnership agreement in late 2023, which was similar to the one that the former signed with "Stellar Blade' developer Shift Up.
It seems like the publisher may have been expecting the "Horizon Zero Dawn" MMO to be ready in 2024, according to Sports Illustrated.
