Guerrilla’s first franchise, “Killzone,” was a dark, violent world that evoked real-world totalitarian imagery. The studio doesn’t hesitate to declare its preference for the vibrant world of Horizon, which also features a diverse cast.
“We were done with it as a team. As a studio, we needed to refresh the palette. It was, by choice, the opposite of ‘Killzone,’” said art director Roy Postma, who has worked at Guerrilla since 2000. “I think the themes that this story and the characters represent are relatable for all ages and people, like having a found family of friends and finding your place in the world.”
For years, Lego worked with PlayStation to produce a brick version of the Tallneck, a Horizon robot that moves like a brontosaurus with a flat satellite dish as its head. The toy released in 2022 as a promotion for “Horizon Forbidden West.”
“It was one of the first ventures we really had on with the bricks side of business looking at games and gaming IP,” Bryant said. “There was a lot of excitement internally at Lego about that, and certainly within the game team. We were all fans of Horizon. So we had a direct conversation with Guerrilla where we came to the table and said, ‘Hey, this looks really cool, but you know what would be even cooler?’ We fully expected for them to go, ‘Yeah, that would be cool’ and nothing would come of it, but they matched our enthusiasm.”
Guerrilla developed the game with Britain-based Studio Gobo, which prides itself in co-development work. It’s helped with large projects like last year’s best-selling “Hogwarts Legacy” game from Warner Bros., as well as numerous Disney games.
“We came from making smaller games and games for children,” said Toño Gonzalez, lead game designer at Studio Gobo, who added that Guerrilla Games is their largest client yet. “They bring so much knowledge on how to make something larger than life.”
Guerrilla Games, on the other hand, learned to loosen up a little. Aloy’s world is radiant, but it’s still a postapocalypse wasteland full of tribal warfare. The “real” Aloy is a stoic, mission-oriented woman, while Lego Aloy will run a hot dog stand.
“Making people laugh when they play the game, that was new for us,” Postma said.
