Horizon Forbidden West Devs Talk About Sequel’s Worldbuilding

In a post released earlier this week on PlayStation Blog, Guerrilla Games detailed how it went about worldbuilding for Horizon Forbidden West.

Horizon: Zero Dawn was known for its deep worldbuilding, and the history of the world was the main driving force of the story. So, of course Guerrilla Games is trying to improve upon that with Forbidden West.

For the upcoming sequel, it’s incredibly important to Lead Living World Designer Espen Sogn that the world feels believable. “When you walk through the Forbidden West, everything should feel like it belongs there,” says Sogn. “The Living World team at Guerrilla works on aspects of the game that make the world feel authentic and alive:  the tribes, the settlements, and the people within them. There’s an intention behind everything we place within the world.”

Credit: Guerrilla Games

building a world

The Living World team has put in a lot of thought behind Horizon Forbidden West and its world building. They want each tribe to have a history with one another, conflicts, and how they fit into the world around them. They also have to think about how the visuals of each tribe reflect their history, and the kind of people they’re meant to be. A big focus is getting things like animations and behaviours right, to sell the idea they’re real. 

Each NPC is part of a crowd system. “Within that system, you can create rules such as reactions, walking paths, and other animations,” says Sogn. “We then also have the attitude system, which determines a personality. This means we can create unique people who behave like individuals within the world.”

It sounds like Horizon Forbidden West will have an even bigger emphasis on world building. The sequel will see Aloy heading west to uncover the secrets of a mysterious plague killing all it infects. So the world building is sure to be a big part of building up that mystery.

Are you excited to play Horizon Forbidden West? Let us know on our social channels.

Shop With GameByte!

Don’t forget you can find great games and more on the GameByte Shop! Our store is stocked up with the latest games, merch and accessories. We might even have a new-gen console or two! Sign up to our newsletter to be notified of our console drops, deals and more. Please note the GameByte Shop is available for UK customers only.

Featured Image Credit: Guerrilla Games