Fans have been circulating a piece of Horizon Forbidden West art online, believing that it’s a new key art for the upcoming sequel. Some actually think that the art might be the official box art for the game as it has a layout similar to Horizon’s Zero Dawn’s cover. Said cover features a battle-ready Aloy and a powerful Horizon Zero Dawn machine.
This key art follows the same formula; only instead of a Thunder Jaw, the machine is the new pterodactyl-based one the game plans to introduce when it releases. It hovers over Aloy as she stands with her spear and bow at the ready on a shore-side with the same mysterious red plant growing on it as the ones seen in the Horizon Forbidden West trailer.
The background of the image also seems to house the remains of the Golden Gate Bridge. While the bridge itself is gone, its two towers remain. Both just happen to be overtaken by trees and other foliage like the rest of Horizon’s setting. If these really are the Golden Gate towers, then this means the “Forbidden West” alluded to in the game’s title is California, which is fitting considering the first game took place in Colorado, Utah, and a small portion of Montana.
The image itself didn’t get released by Guerrilla Games, but most are considering it official anyways because the portion of art featuring Aloy showed up in a collage Guerrilla posted to its Imgur account. This same Aloy portion comes off as cropped in the collage, so this art is likely the full version.
Whether or not the art actually ends up being Horizon Forbidden West box art remains a mystery. While it’s definitely not impossible, it seems a bit early for it to appear. Guerrilla hasn’t even announced a release window for the game, and it’s not the one that released the image in the first place.
If its collage is anything to go by, Guerrilla also has many other artistic ideas that would work as Horizon Forbidden West’s cover. Most of the collage images make up a piece of art focusing on Aloy and Talanah Khane Padish — the Sunhawk (leader) of the Carja Hunters Lodge. The full version of this image could work as a cover, too, since the upcoming canonical Horizon Zero Dawn comic will make Talanah a much more involved character.
Horizon Forbidden West doesn’t have a release date.
