Sony's Guerrilla Games has abandoned the live-service vision for Horizon Hunters Gathering after test players rejected what the studio had built, forcing a fundamental redesign mid-development. The retreat is part of a quieter industry reckoning — one in which the promise of endless engagement loops and recurring revenue has collided with the stubborn reality that players still want games that are simply good. PlayStation, long celebrated for its premium single-player experiences, is finding its way back to that identity, even as the next true Horizon chapter remains years away.