Horizon Forbidden West fans match in-game locations to their real world counterparts

Horizon Forbidden West
(Image credit: Sony)

Horizon Forbidden West fans think they've found the real-world locations where the game takes place.

Just yesterday, in the five hours leading up to the gameplay reveal of Horizon Forbidden West in a new State of Play presentation, a selection of in-game locations were shown off during the livestream countdown. Now, as you can see in the post below, some Horizon fans think they've managed to pin down where these in-game locations are based on in California.

It's an ambitious guessing game from the fans eagerly awaiting Horizon Forbidden West. The map above posits that the game chiefly takes place around central California, although thanks to teaser images for the sequel, we know that Aloy will make her way to San Francisco, as we saw the ruins of the Golden Gate Bridge in yesterday's new gameplay footage.

Additionally, yesterday's new Horizon Forbidden West gameplay seems to have hinted at several other real-world locations for Aloy. At the very end of the gameplay, Aloy pulls up an interactive map, seen just below, with certain points denoted. One fan has worked out that these points corresponding to the locations of Los Angeles, Miami, and Corpus Christi in Texas.

We're not quite sure what this map of locations spread across the US could mean. Aloy's new adventure is set on the west coast of America, so it's hard to see our hero venturing as far out as Texas or Florida during the events of the sequel. Especially in the case of Florida, which appears to be entirely underwater by the events of Horizon Forbidden West (sorry, Florida).

Still, it's a nice look at some of the locations we'll be visiting in Forbidden West, and how far the in-game map could span. Right now, Aloy's sequel is still slated to release later this year, and although developer Guerrilla Games didn't give a firm release date last night, the game's official Twitter account did say that development was "on track," and so right now, we can only assume that the original release window of late 2021 still stands.

Head over to our upcoming PS5 games guide for a full look at all the exclusive games Sony currently has lined up to launch over the next year.

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.