The Horizon series quickly became one of PlayStation’s most beloved franchises after the first games release back in 2017. Its rich world, interesting characters, and fast-paced combat combined with RPG elements are only some of the things that made Playstation fans fall in love with this new IP. So when Sony announced its sequel in 2020, gamers were eager to see what new ideas would be brought to the table to continue Aloy’s story. However, a report by Bloomberg indicates that Sony has decided to delay the game into 2022.

Sony has delayed the PlayStation exclusive Horizon Forbidden West to the first quarter of 2022, a source tells Bloomberg, confirming a rumor shared by @JeffGrubb yesterday. The latest in the video game industry’s cascade of 2021 delays https://t.co/8atrR25oxd

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) July 30, 2021

The Bloomberg report claims that a source close to them familiar with the situation says that Sony is in fact leaning towards delaying the game to 2022 to allow for Guerrilla Games to have more time to polish the game. This report also coincides with what GamesBeat writer Jeff Grubb stated in his podcast. In his “Giant Bomb” podcast, Grubb said that he’d heard via a source that Sony would likely push Horizon: Forbidden West to next year and could announce the delay in a live stream around September. What the live stream will be is uncertain, but if we had to surmise a guess we would assume it would be in another State Of Play live stream.

This delay was always a possibility. In a year plagued with video game delays, the sequel to God of War (2018) was confirmed a few months back to have been delayed into 2022, and Sony did say that Horizon: Forbidden West was on track to release in 2021. But, PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst commented on this release window, saying “For Horizon, we think we are on track to release this holiday season. But that isn’t quite certain yet, and we’re working as hard as we can to confirm that to you as soon as we can.”

While this news will disappoint some, it’s important to remember how difficult game development is. Especially during this time with COVID-19 still being an issue, delays are to be expected. And while the wait will be a bit longer than some anticipated, there is no doubt that a game delay simply means the team has more time to add polish and add new ideas to the game. This talented team will surely bring gamers a wonderful new experience.