Guerrilla Games celebrates 20 years since it was first established by looking back at its own history with Killzone and Horizon franchises. The studio moved on from Killzone after the release of Killzone Shadow Fall for PlayStation 4 and found even more success in the Horizon series. Now, the franchise reached a new milestone with the release of Horizon Forbidden West.
The Horizon franchise by Guerrilla Games has surpassed 32.7 million sales as of April 16, 2023. Additionally, Horizon Forbidden West sold 8.4 million copies, making up a fourth of overall Horizon sales to date. Guerrilla Games thanks fans for their continued support with excitement since “Aloy’s adventures will continue” according to a new PlayStation Blog post.
A new Horizon game starring Aloy is currently in development alongside a new Horizon online game. Details about both games are scarce, but Guerrilla Games recently went through leadership changes as the studio heads into its next phase for development. One of these changes involves Angie Smets, the new head of development strategy at PlayStation Studios.
Following the departure of Angie Smets, Guerrilla announces its management team now consists of Joel Eschler (Studio Director and Production Director) and Hella Schmidt (Studio Director and General Manager), alongside Jan-Bart van Beek (Studio Director and Art Director). Michiel van der Leeuw (Technical Director) will also be focusing on the future technology and strategy for the Decima engine for upcoming Horizon projects.
“These past two decades at Guerrilla have been an absolute dream. I feel privileged to have worked alongside some of the smartest and coolest people in the industry,” said head of development strategy at PlayStation Studios Angie Smets. “I’m so grateful for everything I’ve learned alongside all the other Guerrillas. We have accomplished so much as a team, and I’m incredibly proud of all the games we’ve shipped together.”
Smets added, “A special shoutout to Jan-Bart van Beek and Michiel van der Leeuw. It feels like just yesterday that we were figuring out how to make and ship the first Killzone. Little did we know that we would eventually lead Guerrilla together. You’ve become like brothers to me, and there’s no way to thank you enough. I will miss you dearly.”
