Guerrilla Games has just ended the year in a very charming way revealing a fabulous holiday art piece with the Horizon Tallneck, this time decorated with Christmas lights. They thanked their community for their support and the replies? Wow, they were totally different because the gamers used this opportunity to ask for news on Killzone or the announcement of Horizon 3. A developer’s wish to spread nice vibes got mixed up with the request of the fans for more.
The tweet was very simple and cute. Guerrilla posted the picture, credited Lead Marketing Artist Ilya Golitsyn, and greeted everybody with Happy Holidays. The beauty was stunning—an almost mythical Tallneck in a sparkling environment with lights wrapped around it and a large star on its head like the world’s most beautiful and most dangerous Christmas tree. It is a peaceful and cool piece. Still, the internet had its regular interruptions.
To put it straight, the comment section was not overflowing with “aaaaw, so sweet” love. It seemed to be a well-planned wishlist attack. One of the top comments made by user Meister was very straightforward: “We want Killzone,” They just went on and on. “That’s nice but when do we go back to Killzone?” another user inquired. “Lets bring back #Killzone #RemasterKillzone,” was the insistence of a third user. It was that kind of thing. Someone even jokingly said that they are waiting for the “I want new Killzone” reply, which means that the chuckle has become so loud and predictable.
And, it is definitely not that the request is unreasonable! Before the move to the outstanding open-world RPG of Horizon, the developer made its name in the rough, atmospheric Killzone shooter series. For many hardcore gamers, especially those who started with the PS3 era, Killzone is a treasured and nostalgic, Helghast-helmeted experience in their minds. The last main installment was Shadow Fall for the PS4 launch, which was… gulp, 2013. So yes, just over ten years of no communication from the company will make people restless. They see a studio tweeting and think, ‘This is my chance!’
However, Killzone fans were not the only ones taking over the replies. The Horizon faithful were also present but their demands were aimed at the future, not the past. “I want a third game announcement for Christmas,” one player wrote. “Can’t wait for Horizon Three,” was another. There was even a cute and festive version of the demand: “On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me, an announcement of Horizon THREE!!” The expectation for a sequel to Forbidden West is so real, especially after that game’s cliffhanger ending. Players want to know what happens next in Aloy’s journey.
The debate even turned into speculation with users posting their timelines for the possible announcement. One user was saying that they expect the announcement next year, probably a year later for the release, and perhaps even in 2027 as a cross-gen title with PS6. It’s the classic gaming community cycle—see a piece of art and start planning the release schedule of a game that hasn’t even been announced. It’s totally predictable but still adorable.
Of course, among the requests there were a few really positive reactions. “Didn’t know a Tallneck could look even cooler! Beautiful work. Happy Holidays legends,” one person remarked. Another person jokingly suggested that it was time to put lights on their LEGO Tallneck. Then there were the obligatory holiday greeting spammers who just dropped “Happy Holidays!!”, which is nice but not very interesting. But they were definitely not the majority; the agenda-less folks were still number-wise lesser.
Then there was this strange kind of grumpy thread where two users had a dispute over “Happy Holidays” versus “Merry Christmas” as greetings. This was because the art depicted what appeared to be Christmas lights. One user called it “disingenuous.” To which another bluntly replied, “You’re in a western country. It’s not happy holidays it’s merry Christmas.” Just… classic Twitter, somehow turning a robodino with fairy lights into a cultural dispute. Peak internet behavior right there.
So what lesson can we learn from this whole affair? Guerrilla Games is in a very intriguing position. They established the Horizon as one of the next-gen PlayStation flagships; a critical and commercial success narrative that probably has the third part already in the works. Simultaneously, they have this very enthusiastic and outspoken ex-Eldritch who are silently crying for the slightest sign of life from the earlier dormant IPs. The holiday tweet was like a lightning conductor that captured all that pent-up energy. The community’s passion for series like Forza Horizon shows how deep these nostalgic connections run, even across different franchises and Xbox platforms.
