While the unveiling of Horizon Steel Frontiers was far from a surprise, the fact that it was being developed using Unreal Engine 5 rather than Guerrilla Games’ own Decima Engine was a curious detail. The game’s executive producer, Sunggu Lee, spoke about this decision to use a separate engine for development in an interview with IGN.
When asked about the differences between Decima Engine and Unreal Engine 5, Lee praised Guerrilla Games’ technical expertise, especially when it comes to Decima’s ability to deliver “stunning graphics and amazing asset quality”. He also noted that bringing over those high quality assets to work with Unreal Engine 5 posed its own set of challenges.
“Horizon Steel Frontiers is being developed using Unreal Engine 5,” said Lee. “The original Decima engine is incredible — it delivered stunning graphics and amazing asset quality that made Horizon so iconic. Bringing those high-quality resources over to Unreal Engine 5 was no small challenge.”
As for the development of the title. Lee also spoke about collaborating with Guerrilla Games to make sure that the artistic vision of the Horizon franchise would be captured perfectly with Horizon Steel Frontiers. He also spoke about the impressive capabilities of Unreal Engine 5 to accomplish this vision.
“We worked closely with Guerrilla to make sure we preserved the visual fidelity of the original, while creating gameplay that feels unique to Steel Frontiers,” he said. “Leveraging Unreal Engine 5’s powerful graphics capabilities, we’re able to deliver breathtaking visuals and smooth multiplayer experiences across both mobile and PC (PURPLE).”
Horizon Steel Frontiers was unveiled earlier this week, and will be coming to PC, iOS and Android. The title is set to feature many of the more iconic aspects of Guerrilla Games’ Horizon series, including the ability to use certain Machines as mounts to explore the world. However, along with this, it is also slated to feature plenty of its own unique gameplay features. Lee had spoken about these features during the title’s announcement.
“We’ve added unique, original gameplay elements to the process of taking down giant machines,” he said. “For example, after destroying a specific part of a machine, you can quickly approach and climb onto it using a Pullcaster, set traps on the damaged part, and inflict status effects.”
The MMO will focus around players gathering in the Deadlands alongside thousands of other hunters in order to take on the threat posed by the Machines. It was announced with a pair of trailers, one of which showcased the gameplay that made it quite easy to draw comparisons with Capcom’s Monster Hunter franchise.
NCSoft has also noted that Horizon Steel Frontiers is being developed by making extensive use of AI tools across its development pipeline, from programming to the creation of art. The company also noted that other studios are also using these tools, and that we will get to see more titles use the technology in similar ways moving forward.
Along with this, Guerrilla Games is also reportedly working on its own multiplayer game based on the Horizon universe. For more details, check out our coverage.
