The Horizon franchise, known for its rich single-player experiences, is soon venturing into the multiplayer arena. Guerrilla Games, the PlayStation-owned studio behind this beloved series, is currently developing a live-service game set within the Horizon universe. This new title is rumored to draw gameplay inspiration from popular titles like Monster Hunter. In parallel, South Korean developer NCSoft, renowned for their expertise in live-service gaming with titles such as City of Heroes and Blade & Soul, is reportedly working on a separate Horizon MMO.
Details about these upcoming Horizon projects remain scarce, as they have not yet been officially announced. Guerrilla Games acknowledged their focus on creating a multiplayer title with a “unique stylized look”back in late 2022. In contrast, NCSoft has yet to confirm the development of its Horizon MMO. The main question that lingers is how the MMO will differ from Guerrilla’s own multiplayer effort. Should NCSoft proceed, they must take great care to balance numerous features while avoiding the pitfalls encountered by other franchises, including Fallout, during their transitions to the MMO genre.
NCSoft’s Horizon MMO Must Learn from Fallout 76’s Launch Challenges
Fallout 76 Faced Criticism for Its Absence of NPCs
The Fallout franchise, akin to Horizon, primarily focused on single-player gameplay until the release of Fallout 76 in 2018. This installment represented the franchise’s first foray into a multiplayer-only live-service format, developed by Bethesda Game Studios, a team previously inexperienced in multiplayer design. Despite gaining a significant player base over time, Fallout 76’s launch was marred by considerable issues.
Upon release, Fallout 76 received a slew of negative reviews, primarily due to its numerous bugs—exceeding even typical Bethesda standards—and a distinct lack of content. Moreover, the quality of available content failed to meet the expectations set by earlier titles in the franchise. A critical factor in the backlash was the game’s initial omission of non-player characters (NPCs).Unlike its predecessors, which featured rich populations of humans and diverse interactions, Fallout 76 relegated players to interacting primarily with one another, with only robotic vendors serving as the game’s NPCs.
This absence of NPCs altered the very essence of what fans had come to cherish about the Fallout series: immersive role-playing, meaningful choices, and engaging dialogue. The removal of these elements led to widespread discontent among fans, prompting Bethesda to reintroduce human NPCs in 2020’s Wastelanders update following intense criticism over this omission.
Achieving NPC Balance Will Be Key for NCSoft’s Horizon MMO
The initial struggles of Fallout 76 serve as a cautionary tale for NCSoft as they work on their Horizon MMO. To ensure a successful launch, it’s imperative that they do not replicate the missteps followed by Bethesda’s Fallout adaptation, particularly concerning NPC integration. While the Horizon games are not centered around the same choice-driven RPG mechanics as Fallout, NPCs and dialogue remain integral to the franchise’s narrative depth. Thus, an absence of NPCs would undermine the authenticity of a Horizon game.
However, a careful approach is necessary when integrating NPCs into the multiplayer format. Given the post-apocalyptic setting of Horizon and its focus on player interactions, NCSoft may need to strategically limit the number of NPCs in order to enhance the players’ roles within the game. Striking a harmonious balance between player agency and NPC presence could significantly enrich immersion and overall player experience.
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