Multiple PlayStation studios are developing games with Horizon Forbidden West's engine

Several PlayStation studios are reportedly using the same game engine as Horizon Forbidden West to develop upcoming games.

Decima was first used by Guerrilla Games, the developers behind HFW, in Killzone: Shadow Fall for the PS4 in 2013, and has since been used to create Death Stranding, Until Dawn, and Horizon Zero Dawn. Having been recently updated to make HFW, this game engine already has an impressive catalogue to its name, with that long list set to grow.

The discovery was made during a computer translated interview between Famitsu and PlayStation Studio Head, Herman Hulst (thanks, GamesRadar). Hulst was answering a question about studio collaborations when he said, “Of course, there is also the sharing of technology. For example, there are several studios using Guerrilla Games' Decima engine. We also place importance on improving our technology, and we share that idea among the studios.”

Despite this admission, Hulst didn’t comment any further on what studios and games are using Decima, though speculation points at the rumoured upcoming release of Overdose, a Hideo Kojima horror game that was leaked in late 2022. Further conjecture is that the Death Stranding sequel will be used with this engine, though even less is known about this second game beyond well circulated gossip.

Perhaps the reception that Supermassive Games’ The Quarry received, in regards to janky gameplay, have contributed to multiple PS studios looking beyond the Unreal Engine for inspiration? It’s possible, though now there’s the new and improved Unreal Engine 5, which was released in April 2022, Supermassive Games could end up sticking to what they know best.

As of now, what games will be brought to life by Decima remain to be seen. Still, while we can only guess at what will come next, given how favourable HFW’s reviews were, not least of all because of its “stunning vistas”, we can rest assured that there’s going to be a lot of good looking games headed our way.