Still Can't Play Horizon Hunters Gathering? Guerrilla Says T

Two new hunters, a narrative episode, a fresh region, harder difficulty modes, and solo-friendly NPC companions. Guerrilla Games is packing a lot into the second Horizon Hunters Gathering closed playtest, running May 22 to 25 on PS5 and PC. But if you missed the first test back in February, your odds of getting in this time aren't much better.

Game Director Arjan Bak made that explicit in a PlayStation Blog post today: "We want to emphasize again: Horizon Hunters Gathering is a game in development; we choose to playtest early and with small numbers to focus on the core experience and implement player feedback before opening to bigger groups of players." Registration is open through the PlayStation Beta Program, but Guerrilla is being upfront that not all applicants will get access.

It's a strange tension. The content lineup for this test is substantial enough that it reads like a proper beta preview rather than a narrow stress test. The two new hunters are Ensa, described as a charismatic Oseram smuggler with a mercenary past, and Shadow, a Carja covert operative who commands a Stalker machine. Both join the returning roster of Rem, Sun, and Axle, all of whom have received tweaks based on first-test feedback. A playable Episode will give testers their first look at the game's narrative campaign, and a new region called Breakers' Bounty brings dense jungles and scorching desert terrain. Machine Incursion now has Hard and Merciless difficulty tiers, Cauldron Descent features tougher rooms, and Training Modules have been added for onboarding. Hunter NPCs can also fill empty co-op slots or accompany solo players.

That's a significant amount of game to show off to what Guerrilla keeps calling "small numbers." I get the philosophy; iterating with a focused group before scaling up is smart development practice, especially for a studio whose multiplayer track record is thin. But the longer most players are locked out, the harder it becomes to shift the narrative around this game. A Push Square poll found 43% of respondents already saying they're "out" on Hunters Gathering, with another 22% not feeling it. Guerrilla needs people playing this thing and talking about what works, not just reading patch note summaries from the outside.

Whether a third test opens the gates wider remains unclear. Horizon Hunters Gathering still has no release date or confirmed pricing model for PS5 and Steam.