Official: Horizon MMO announced as Steel Frontiers, developed by NCSoft with Guerrilla’s oversight

Sony has confirmed a major expansion of the Horizon universe: an MMORPG titled Horizon: Steel Frontiers is in development at NCSoft (Lineage, Guild Wars publishing partner, Blade & Soul), in close collaboration with Guerrilla Games and PlayStation Studios. Rather than a single-hero adventure, Steel Frontiers aims to translate Horizon’s signature loop—reading machine behaviors, targeting weak points, dismantling parts, and improvising with tools—into a persistent, shared world.

While the teams are keeping many specifics under wraps, the title and early positioning sketch a clear direction. “Steel Frontiers” evokes frontier settlements, caravan routes, and contested biomes on the edges of civilization, where tribal factions (Nora, Oseram, Carja, Tenakth, and others) push into machine-ruled wilderness. The pitch is an ecosystem-driven MMO: day–night cycles, weather, roaming machine packs, world events and faction objectives that reshape local conditions—paired with co-op hunting and social hubs.

Gameplay pillars (what to expect)

• Big-game hunts & raid-like encounters. Iconic machines (think Thunderjaw, Tremortusk, Slitherfang, Stormbird) framed as coordinated multi-player fights, with roles built from Horizon-style toolkits rather than strict tank–healer–DPS trinity. Expect elemental setups, crowd-control by ropes and tripwires, armor-stripping, part breaking, and “overrider” support to swing the flow of battle.

• Exploration & expeditions. Open-zone traversal with free climbing, gliding, rope lines, underwater ruins, data logs and lost tech. The classic Horizon DNA—only now with co-op layering.

• Community & economy. Settlement hubs, crafting benches, tribal reputations, player markets, rotating world events (e.g., migrating alpha herds, machine rampages) and seasonal updates.

Combat & builds

Steel Frontiers appears to double down on weak-point precision and status interplay (shock, freeze, burn, tear) plus part removal to unlock new craft paths and temporarily debuff machines. Instead of mirroring MMO holy-trinity roles, NCSoft and Guerrilla are signaling synergy-driven squads: for example, an Oseram build that primes armor plates for tearing, a Carja specialist that cracks resistances, while a Nora trapper locks escape routes—each feeding into others’ burst windows.

Characters, crafting, progression

Don’t expect to play as Aloy. The MMO focuses on player-created avatars with tribal backgrounds and specializations (hunter, machine-tamer/override expert, relic diver, Oseram engineer). Crafting extends Horizon’s part-harvest economy—ripping components from machines, then combining tribal tech with discovered schematics. The studios also hint at collaborative projects (e.g., improving a settlement’s defenses) to tether personal progression to shared, living spaces.

Business model, platforms, tech

Neither Sony nor NCSoft has publicly committed to a business model. Given NCSoft’s portfolio, free-to-play with cosmetic monetization and/or a battle pass is plausible, but not confirmed. The target platforms are Mobile and PC, with cross-play/cross-progression under consideration (again, not yet formally announced). On the backend, expect server-side scaling and event density to support large roaming herds, timed world bosses, and synchronized seasonal beats befitting a modern live service.

Why NCSoft?

The Sony–NCSoft partnership has been telegraphed for years via hiring trails and strategic announcements. NCSoft brings decades of MMO operations expertise (long-running Lineage ecosystem, Western collaboration via ArenaNet’s Guild Wars), while Guerrilla safeguards lore, art direction, machine behavior, and brand cohesion. The shared goal: keep the “prey–tools–tactics” identity intact, but make it work in layered co-op and scale for years of live updates.

Bottom line: if Steel Frontiers nails the feel of Horizon’s combat—hit reactions, stagger windows, the satisfaction of popping off a canister—inside a robust social loop (raids, world events, meaningful crafting, and seasons that actually move the world), it could become one of the most intriguing franchise expansions of the decade. The studios promise more concrete details on test phases and roadmaps later.

Sources:
– PC Guru – Official: Horizon MMORPG “Steel Frontiers” announced
– Guerrilla Games – Horizon series
– PlayStation Studios – Horizon franchise
– NCSoft – Company & MMO portfolio
 

*The cover photo is AI-edited.