🔥 Guerrilla’s co-op Horizon game is getting a second beta — May 22-25 on PS5 and PC, free to sign up now.
🧠 Two brand-new playable Hunters join the roster: Ensa (a smuggler) and Shadow (a Carja covert operative with a Stalker machine).
📺 For the first time, story-driven Episodes are playable — narrative missions with new mysteries and mechanics.
🎮 You can now play completely solo with NPC Hunter companions, no friends required.
💸 If you’ve been on the fence, now’s the time to try it — it’s free, it’s bigger, and it directly shapes the final game.
Sony confirmed that Horizon Hunters Gathering — Guerrilla’s three-player co-op action game set in the Horizon universe — is not going anywhere. A second playtest runs May 22-25 on both PS5 and PC through the PlayStation Beta Program, and this time it’s arriving with a substantially bigger feature set than the first closed test in February.
What Horizon Hunters Gathering Actually Is
For the uninitiated: Hunters Gathering is Guerrilla’s first multiplayer game. It’s not a battle royale, not a live-service shooter — it’s a focused three-player co-op action game set in the same world as Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West. You pick from a roster of uniquely skilled Hunters, gear up in a social hub, and head into machine-filled missions together.
Two core modes drove the first playtest. Machine Incursion is a high-intensity wave defense where machines pour from underground gateways, culminating in a boss fight. Cauldron Descent is a longer roguelite-style run through procedurally changing rooms stacked with machine encounters and hidden rewards. Both modes use a deep perk system to let you customize each Hunter’s build per run.
The game uses cell-shaded visuals — a deliberate stylistic shift from Aloy’s photorealistic games — and is fully canon. The story “doesn’t stop at launch,” according to Guerrilla.
What’s New in Beta 2
This is a meaningfully larger slice than the first test. Game Director Arjan Bak confirmed the team rebuilt and refined Rem, Sun, and Axle based on feedback — but the headline additions are two entirely new Hunters:
Ensa is a charismatic Oseram smuggler with a mercenary past. She brings a distinct melee-forward playstyle with heavy emphasis on opportunistic combat. Shadow is a Carja covert operative who commands a fearsome Stalker machine — meaning you’re not just fighting machines, you’re also fielding one as a weapon.
Alongside the new characters, Story Episodes are playable for the first time. Guerrilla has kept the narrative mostly under wraps, but these are proper campaign missions — new characters, new mysteries, new mechanics. This is a significant shift from the first beta’s purely gameplay-focused structure.
New difficulty tiers have also been added to Machine Incursion and Cauldron Descent, addressing a common complaint that the early build didn’t have enough challenge ceiling.
Solo Play Is Now Fully Supported
One of the most practical additions for this beta: you can play everything alone. Hunters Gathering is designed for three players, but if you load into a mission without a full squad, NPC Hunters now fill in — meaning you’re never locked out of content just because your friends aren’t online.
This removes one of the biggest friction points from the first test, where solo players had limited options. It also makes the story Episodes more accessible without coordination.
Is This Just Concord 2.0?
Fair question. Sony has had a rough run with new multiplayer IPs. In a Push Square poll after the first beta announcement, 43% of nearly 5,000 voters said they were “already out.” The comparison to Concord — Sony’s $400M co-op shooter that died in two weeks — is floating around the comments of every article.
The differences matter though. Hunters Gathering is built on one of PlayStation’s most beloved franchises, has a defined genre identity (co-op action with roguelite elements, not hero shooter), and is launching with no price tag barriers to entry for testing. Concord charged $40 upfront on launch. This game’s beta is free, cross-play with PC, and cross-progression is locked to your PlayStation account so nothing carries over to a different platform.
Community reception has room to grow. Two new playable Hunters, a story mode, solo support, and better difficulty scaling in a single beta update suggests Guerrilla is listening. Whether that’s enough to flip the 43% will become clearer after May 25.
🛒 Top Picks
If you’re jumping into the beta or want to gear up for the full launch when it arrives, here’s what to have ready.
🥇 Best Overall: Sony DualSense Wireless Controller — The only way to play on PS5, and Guerrilla’s haptic feedback design puts it to serious use in the Horizon games.
🥈 Runner-Up: Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition (PS5) — Catch up on the lore before Hunters Gathering drops. Complete Edition includes the Burning Shores DLC.
🥉 Best Value: Sony PULSE Elite Wireless Headset — Native PS5 integration, Tempest 3D audio, AI-enhanced noise rejection for party chat. Essential for coordinating in co-op.
Sign Up Now Before May 22
The second beta runs May 22-25. Sign-ups are live through the PlayStation Beta Program — you can register on PS5 or PC. Cross-play is supported between both platforms, and cross-progression works as long as you save under the same PlayStation account.
If the first beta left you skeptical, the additions here are substantial enough to warrant a second look. Two new Hunters, the first story content, solo NPC support, and harder difficulty options in a single update. Guerrilla is moving fast.
The full game still has no release date, but at this pace of updates, it’s closer than the community gives it credit for. Grab a second DualSense, get the headset charged, and block out that weekend.
Image credits: Push Square / Guerrilla Games