Horizon Steel Frontier developer wants PlayStation release, but it’s “not something we can decide on our own”

On the reveal of Horizon Steel Frontiers yesterday, there was one big question on everyone’s lips. Why is it not coming to PlayStation?

After all, Horizon is one of Sony’s most prolific first party franchises, with over 30m copies sold across PC and PlayStation consoles. But, despite this, the upcoming Horizon MMO from NCSoft is currently only slated for PC and mobile. What gives?

In the time since Horizon Steel Frontiers’ announcement, executive producer Lee Song has shed a bit more light on why NCSoft’s game isn’t coming to PlayStation, suggesting excluding the platform was not NCSoft’s decision.

The Horizon Steel Frontiers developer told Japanese outlet 4Gamer that a lack of PS5 release was the “most common reaction” following the announcement (via machine translation). He added that NCSoft has “no reason” not to bring its game to a PlayStation console.

“We would like to do it,” the developer continued, “but it is not something we can decide on our own, so we would like to proceed with discussions.”

It’s been speculated, therefore, it may be Sony’s decision not to release the game on PlayStation. Eurogamer has asked Sony for further comment.

Horizon Steel Frontiers is described as a “fierce survival adventure”, in which players take on the role of machine hunters in a region known as Deathlands. The team promises “large-scale raids” and an “advanced combat system” on the game’s eventual release.

In related news, earlier today Guerrilla’s studio head celebrated Steel Frontiers’ announcement with the revelation that the team had always imagined Horizon as a multiplayer game.