Killzone was arguably PlayStation’s flagship shooter between 2004 and 2013, emerging on the PlayStation 2 and living strong up until its demise with Killzone Shadow Fall on the PlayStation 4. It was a shining gem of a series that sold consoles for years, being developed by the team that would go on to produce the Horizon series – but it died a miserable death a decade ago.
On November 15, 2013, Killzone Shadow Fall was released to a paltry reception on PlayStation 4. It was underwhelming, the multiplayer couldn’t compete with the likes of Call of Duty: Ghosts and Battlefield 4, and ultimately, it buckled – and Guerrilla Games shelved it and never looked back.
Is There A New Killzone Coming?
Probably not, no.
In a leak that sort of slipped through the cracks early in 2022, it was suggested that Guerrilla Games was working on some kind of a shooter with ‘an esports focus’ that had some involvement from ex-Rainbow Six developers. It was stressed that ‘Killzone is dead’, but since then, the topic hasn’t been revisited.
Every so often, a claim surfaces that a new Killzone game is in development, but it never pans out. Earlier this year, it was stressed that, as a result of Horizon’s immense success, Guerrilla Games ‘wouldn’t need to’ revisit Killzone, which many consider to simply be a forgotten franchise. Once upon a time, Killzone was tagged as the ‘Halo killer’, and it could have been – but it fizzled out.
It’s a crying shame because Killzone’s universe had been built from the ground up to be something monumental. Guerrilla crafted entire worlds and a backstory that was ripe with opportunities, and throughout four major releases and two spin-offs, that universe was explored at length. It feels like we might have only scratched the surface with Killzone, and the factions and characters that were created almost twenty years ago were nothing short of memorable.
Let’s face it – millions of gamers recognise the iconic glowing orange eyes of the Helghast, even if they’ve never played Killzone.
As one of the defining shooters of the PlayStation 2 and a flagship franchise for Sony’s PlayStation 3, it was sad to see the series leap off a cliff when the PlayStation 4 was released. With today’s technology, a Killzone 5 or a Shadow Fall II might look stunning and perform remarkably well, especially being driven by Guerrilla’s world-class development team.
I don’t think we’ll ever see the series resurface.
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