Layoffs Reported at Horizon MMO Developer NCSOFT

Aloy's mobile adventure likely impacted

by · Push Square

South Korean developer NCSoft has cut an unspecified number of jobs, with unannounced projects and support functions being cancelled or otherwise reduced due to its "deteriorating" financial situation. The company, which just released the MMO Throne and Liberty on PS5, struck a deal with Sony a couple of years ago to create another set in Guerrilla's Horizon universe, seemingly just for mobile.

The news comes by way of Korean-language outlet Yanhap, translated by Game Developer (thanks VGC). Co-CEOs Taek-Jin Kim and Byung-Moo Park said the company was "at risk of falling into a chronic deficit, seriously damaging the creativity and challenging spirit that NC originally had".

It remains to be seen which teams will be impacted, but this will likely mean another setback for Sony's mobile initiative. In November last year, then-SIE boss Jim Ryan said of the partnership with NCSoft: "Partnering with NCSoft advances our strategy to expand beyond console and broaden PlayStation’s reach to a wider audience."

Related Articles

News Job Listing Indicates Horizon MMO Still in Development, Just Not for PS5

Never say never

Are you holding out hope for the Horizon MMO, mobile-bound or not? Let us know in the comments section below.

[source yna.co.kr]

  • Share:
  • 0

About Khayl Adam

Khayl Adam is Push Square's roving Australian correspondent, a reporter tasked with scouring the internet for the richest, most succulent PlayStation stories. With five years of experience as a freelance journalist and mercenary wordsmith, RPGs are his first great love, but strategy and tactics games are a close second, genres in which he is only too happy to specialize.

Comments 11

Wait, what? Are you saying that the Horizon MMO was going to be a mobile game??? I just assumed that it was in development for PS5...

@gipsojo What a generation!

Is it me or are there game company layoffs every week now? The industry is in a dire state, isn’t it?

@LavenderShroud It's more that several bubbles are bursting, competition in gaming markets is fiercer than ever before, and far too many executives don't know what the f*** they're doing.

I would rather say the gaming industry is currently unsustainable, but it's not in a dire state. If developers were spending less and focusing on making new trends rather than chasing old ones with little room for iteration, most of this wouldn't be happening.

Man, and I thought I didn’t want a Horizon live-service game!

All of this takes away from the eventual Horizon 3. I’m hoping for the best but expecting the worst at this point.

Sad for individuals, but I'd sooner it get permanently cancelled.
Never have been interested in never ending, yawn fest, live service rubbish that makes me feel like a mark in some sort of grift.

@T-Prime85 why would a game not made by guerrilla take something away from Horizon 3? LOL.

@gipsojo the MMO isn't even confirmed dude ... NCSOFT started recruiting using a font similar to the Horizon font and that was enough for people to believe that game was going to be Horizon mmorpg.

And yes the job listing said pc/mobile but this days ports of "mobile" games to console aren't news. Hoyo is king in that field.

Sony is just hitting it out of the park when it comes to decision making recently... sigh... having said that, the whole industry is taking the L now. Hopefully this is just an adjustment, not something more systemic.

Not good from a layoff POV.
But I'm glad an MMO/mobile game is not being made.
They should concentrate their efforts on Horizon 3, instead of more diluting and milking that will certainly lead to IP exhaustion.

We already have 2 AAA games, 2 hefty DLC's, a Remaster, 2 PC versions, a VR game, a Lego game, a TV show at least in the talks, a multiplayer game in development apparently, and an eventual Horizon 3 sequel.

Sony should give it a much needed rest for 1 year or 2, before they lose more than they gain.

It’s all good there’s no gaming crash, it’s all good there’s no monopolies 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
😒😒😒😒😒

Show Comments

Leave A Comment

Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...