Guerrilla Games

Studio logo since 2013

**Guerrilla Games**, formerly known as **Lost Boys Games**, is a Dutch video game development studio based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 2000, the company was rebranded in 2003 and acquired by Sony in 2005. It is part of PlayStation Studios and employs over 350 developers as of 2021.

Originally releasing titles for the Gameboy handheld consoles of Nintendo, Guerrilla Games eventually partnered with Sony to develop *Killzone* for the PlayStation 2. Despite mixed reviews, *Killzone* was commercially successful, and Guerrilla was acquired by Sony to work on sequels and spin-offs over the next decade. Since 2017, the company began working on a new franchise, *Horizon*, beginning with *Horizon Zero Dawn*.

Outside of its game catalogue, Guerrilla is best known as the creator of the Decima game engine, which sees usage by both the studio and external partners of PlayStation Studios such as Kojima Productions, with whom Guerrilla has close ties.

Reception to Guerrilla Games as a developer has been generally positive, with multiple publications praising the studio's technical capabilities, art direction and game engine work. Their *Killzone* games received mixed to positive reviews, with 2009's *Killzone 2* standing as their highest-rated title as a studio. Guerrilla's work on the *Horizon* series was met with critical acclaim for showcasing the studio's versatility with another genre, and has been commercially successful with almost 33 million copies sold as of April 2023. Guerrilla Games' titles were nominated for and won several awards, particularly *Killzone 2* and the *Horizon* series.

From 2012 to 2017, Guerrilla Games had a sister studio called Guerrilla Cambridge, formerly another of Sony subsidiary called Cambridge Studio. The studio was closed in 2017 during a reconstruction within Sony.

## History

### 2000 - 2003: As Lost Boys Games

**Lost Boys Games** was founded on January 1, 2000. The studio was the result of a merger between three studios; Orange Games (founded and owned by Arjan Brussee), Digital Infinity (founded and owned by Arnout van der Kamp), and Formula Game Development (founded and owned by Martin de Ronde). Formula was a subsidiary of Lost Boys Media, a Dutch media company owned by Michiel Mol that became the parent company of the resulting game studio. De Ronde was selected as the new studio's managing director, which at the time employed 25 people but grew to over 40 by November 2002. De Ronde was eventually replaced by Hermen Hulst, who was hired from an unrelated consulting firm. Game designer Mathijs de Jonge joined the company around the same.

In December 2001, Lost Boys merged with the Swedish company Icon Medialab; Lost Boys Games was spun-off into a separate, independent entity while Mol retained ownership over the game company.

Before and after this transition, Lost Boys Games developed for Nintendo's Game Boy Color, but struggled to find publishers for their projects. The studio noted that publishers preferred to fund licensed games rather than original properties, and Lost Boys refused to alter their original designs. As a result, Lost Boys relented and moved to work-for-hire projects, producing four Game Boy Color titles between 2001 and 2002: *Tiny Toon Adventures: Dizzy's Candy Quest* (2001; produced by Formula), *Rhino Rumble* (2002), *Black Belt Challenge* (2002) and *Invader* (2002). For the latter two games, Lost Boys partnered with publisher Xicat Interactive, which demanded both titles to be rebranded.

In 2003, Lost Boys Games was sold to another company owned by Mol, Media Republic. Media Republic gained control over 75% of Lost Boys. Gamasutra's Hasan Ali Almaci speculated that the reason for the sale was due to tax purposes.

### 2003 - 2005: Rebranding, *Killzone*, Sony acquisition

In July 2003, it was announced that Lost Boys Games would be rebranded as Guerrilla Games, as a way to align the game studio under Media Republic's image. At the time, the newly-branded Guerrilla was working on two projects for Sony Computer Entertainment and Eidos Interactive. Guerrilla's project with Eidos was formally announced in February 2004 as *Shellshock: Nam '67*, a military third-person shooter for PlayStation 2, Xbox and personal computers. It was released later that year to mixed reception.

In March 2003, Guerrilla signed an exclusivity contract with Sony to develop games for its PlayStation brand of consoles. Guerrilla's project with Sony was formally announced in August 2003 as *Killzone*, exclusively for Sony's PlayStation 2. According to Hulst, Guerrilla pitched a demo called *Marines* to Sony in December 1999. Sony initially rejected *Marines* due to plans with *Marathon* developer Bungie to release games on the PlayStation 2, but following Microsoft's acquisition of Bungie and the success of its 2001 title *Halo: Combat Evolved*, contacted Guerrilla to greenlight the project.

*Killzone* was highly anticipated prior to its release in 2004, leading to both the press and Sony to dub it as the "*Halo* killer" at the time, a label which Guerrilla resented. Ultimately, the game was released to generally mixed reviews, but was a commercial success for Sony with over 1 million copies sold.

Sony and Guerrilla announced their second collaboration, a then-untitled sequel to *Killzone* for the PlayStation 3, at E3 in June 2005. The reveal trailer drew some controversies over whether it was running on the PlayStation 3 or was a target render, which Sony executives Jack Tretton and Phil Harrison claimed to be the former. Guerrilla would later clarify that the trailer in question was indeed a target render.

By 2005, several companies were interested in Guerrilla, including previous collaborator Eidos. In December 2005, Sony announced its intention to acquire Guerrilla from Media Republic, with Guerrilla poised to develop for Sony's PlayStation Portable and then-upcoming PlayStation 3. At the time, Guerrilla included 95 employees.

### 2005 - 2014: Continued work on *Killzone*

In January 2006, Guerrilla and Sony announced *Killzone: Liberation*, a spin-off to *Killzone* set to release for the PlayStation Portable. It was released the same year, in October, to generally favorable reviews and stronger reception than its predecessor. *Liberation* was the first game from Guerrilla with De Jonge as its game director, and he would go on to lead development on other *Killzone* titles and Guerrilla's succeeding franchise, *Horizon*.

After two years of silence regarding the studio's PlayStation 3 game, Guerrilla resurfaced at E3 2007 with a new demo, officially revealing it to be *Killzone 2*. Originally slated for 2008, *Killzone 2* was released in February 2009 to critical acclaim. It was also a commercially success, selling over 1 million copies by April of that year.

In March 2010, Guerrilla confirmed a new *Killzone* title, *Killzone 3*. At the GDC conference in August of that year, Guerrilla announced that it was also working on a new intellectual property. *Killzone 3* eventually released in February 2011, to positive reviews.

In January 2012, Sony reconstructed *MediEvil* developer Cambridge Studio into a sister-studio for Guerrilla called Guerrilla Cambridge. As part of the rebrand, Guerrilla Cambridge would bring Guerrilla's *Killzone* series to Sony's PlayStation Vita. The resulting title was *Killzone: Mercenary*. Sony would close Guerrilla Cambridge in January 2017.

In February 2012, Brussee, who served as technical director, left Guerrilla to join Visceral Games. His role was filled by Michael Van Der Leeuw.

Following *Killzone 3*, a team at Guerrilla continued to work on the next installment, while another team began working on the studio's next franchise. In February 2013, Guerrilla announced *Killzone Shadow Fall* as a launch title for Sony's PlayStation 4; it was the first game to use Guerrilla's new engine, Decima. It was released to mixed reviews, but was a commercial success. With the release of *Killzone Shadow Fall*, the remainder of Guerrilla Games joined development on the second game.

### 2014 - current: *Horizon* franchise and partnerships

For Guerrilla's next franchise, the studio had its employees suggest over 40 different pitches and concepts to the management. A pitch from the studio's art director, Jan-Bart van Beek, was the one chosen. Game writer John Gonzalez, known for his work on 2010's *Fallout: New Vegas*, joined in November 2013 to help with the writing and quest design of the game. By September 2014, concept art for Guerrilla's new intellectual property was leaked.

At Sony's E3 conference in June 2016, Guerrilla and Sony formally announced *Horizon Zero Dawn* for the PlayStation 4, Guerrilla's first new IP since 2004, which was originally scheduled to launch in 2016. The game was delayed to February 2017, and was released to critical acclaim and was among 2017's best-received titles. *Horizon Zero Dawn* was also a significant commercial hit for Guerrilla, selling over 2.6 million copies in its first two weeks, which increased to 20 million copies by February 2022. Guerrilla announced an expansion pack, *The Frozen Wilds*, in June 2017, releasing it in November of the same year to positive reception. By early 2018, Guerrilla began working on a sequel.

In December 2016, it was announced that Guerrilla would partner with Hideo Kojima's Kojima Productions on *Death Stranding* and provide their Decima engine to the studio. *Death Stranding* released in November 2019, with over 70 members of Guerrilla contributing to its development.

On November 7, 2019, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that studio head Hermen Hulst will be promoted to president of SIE Worldwide Studios, replacing Shuhei Yoshida and Shawn Layden. His position as Guerrilla's managing director was taken over by long-time employees producer Angie Smets, art director Jan-Bart van Beek and technical director and Decima engine overseer Michiel van der Leeuw.

Guerrilla and Sony announced *Horizon Forbidden West* at Sony's PlayStation 5 reveal event in June 2020. Initially planned for 2021, the game was eventually released in February 2022 for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, to positive reviews. Gonzalez left Guerrilla halfway through development of *Forbidden West*, in July 2020.

At The Game Awards 2022, hosted in December 2022, Guerrilla and Sony announced an expansion pack for *Forbidden West*, *Burning Shores*, to launch in April 2023 as a PlayStation 5 exclusive. The same event, Sony also announced Kojima's *Death Stranding 2*, once more using Guerrilla's Decima engine and the studio's technical support. The same month, Guerrilla confirmed to be working on a multiplayer-oriented *Horizon* title.

On April 24, 2023, Smets announced her departure from Guerilla after 20 years, after which she was promoted within Sony Interactive Entertainment to serve as head of development strategy at PlayStation Studios. The studio's managing team was updated to include production director Joel Eschler and general manager Hella Schmidt, who would join Van Beek as studio directors. On Linkedin, technical director Van der Leewu announced that he would also step down from his role as co-studio director to focus entirely on development surrounding Guerrilla's technology and the Decima engine.

In July 2023, Van Beek announced that Guerrilla has a pipeline of 16 "plans" for the *Horizon* franchise, including future installments.

## Studio overview

### Company structure

In January 2012, Sony's Cambridge Studio was rebranded as Guerrilla Cambridge and became a sister studio to Guerrilla Games; the studio was tasked with bringing the *Killzone* series to the PlayStation Vita, and later to provide titles for the PlayStation VR headset. It was shut down in January 2017 as part of a reconstruction within Sony Interactive Entertainment.

By December 2022, Guerrilla Games consisted of a team working on single-player *Horizon* games, a team working on a multiplayer-focused *Horizon* title, and teams for external development with other studios. As of December 2022, Guerrilla's job openings highlight four teams within the studio.

* Central Team which operates around the Decima game engine, its tools and the Decima Editor framework.
* A team for single-player games within the *Horizon* franchise, including expansion packs such as *Burning Shores*.
* A team dedicated for *Horizon Online Project*, a multiplayer spin-off to *Horizon* with more stylized visuals.
* An External Development team for collaborative works with external partners on *Horizon* spin-offs such as *Horizon Call of the Mountain*.

### Technology

Since 2013, Guerrilla Games uses Decima, a proprietary game engine created by the studio to power its 2013 release *Killzone Shadow Fall*, though it was stilled unnamed at the time. Since its initial usage in 2013, Guerrilla overhauled the engine to support the open world design and role-playing mechanics of *Horizon Zero Dawn* (2017); a process which took the studio two years to work through as they refitted the engine work from its original purpose of linear design. An upgraded version of the engine was used for *Horizon Forbidden West* (2022).

In addition to in-house development, Guerrilla shared the engine with other developers such as *Until Dawn* studio Supermassive Games. In 2016, Guerrilla partnered with Kojima Productions and the studio's title *Death Stranding*, which was powered by Decima.

## Notable personnel

### Current

* Mathijs de Jonge (game director)
* Jan-Bart van Beek (co-studio director; art director)
* Michiel van der Leeuw (studio technical director)

### Former

* Hermen Hulst
* Angie Smets

## Relationship with other studios

### PlayStation Studios

Guerrilla has been a subsidiary of PlayStation Studios since 2005.

#### Firesprite

Guerrilla and Firesprite have been sister-studios since 2021 when Sony acquired the latter. The two studios collaborated together on the *Horizon* spin-off, *Horizon Call of the Mountain* (2023), for the PlayStation VR2 headset.

#### London Studio

Guerrilla and London Studio have been sister-studios since 2005 when Sony acquired the former. London Studio provided additional support on Guerrilla titles *Killzone 2* (2009), *Horizon Forbidden West* (2022) and its *Burning Shores* expansion (2023), and *Horizon Call of the Mountain* (2023).

#### Nixxes Software

Guerrilla and Nixxes Software have been sister-studios since 2021 when Sony acquired the latter. Prior to its acquisition, Nixxes provided additional support on Guerrilla's *Killzone Shadow Fall* (2013). Nixxes, known for their work on game optimization and PC ports, helped developing patches for the 2020 Windows port of Guerrilla's *Horizon Zero Dawn* (2017).

#### Santa Monica Studio

Guerrilla and Santa Monica Studio have been sister-studios since 2005 when Sony acquired the former. During the development of Guerilla's *Horizon Zero Dawn*, a combat design specialist from Santa Monica Studio transferred to Guerrilla as part of a bi-annual program between the two studios. The developer suggested to give players a spear as their main melee weapon, a pitch that was approved by the game directors.

## References

1. ↑ "A First Look at Guerrilla's New Studio", published March 5, 2021.
2. ↑ Studio Profile: Guerrilla Games, GameDeveloper. May 9, 2011.
3. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120602215641/http://issuu.com/startupmagazine/docs/startup\_magazine\_1
4. ↑ https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2014/11/11/tien-jaar-knallen-1437728-a347806
5. ↑ Studio Profile: Guerrilla Games, GameDeveloper. May 9, 2011.
6. ↑ https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/icon-medialab-merges-lost-boys/15404?src\_site=brandrepublic
7. ↑ Studio Profile: Guerrilla Games, GameDeveloper. May 9, 2011.
8. ↑ http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/6698/lost-boys-games-find-publisher-in-xicat
9. ↑ https://mtsprout.nl/leiderschap/management/software-is-king
10. ↑ Studio Profile: Guerrilla Games, GameDeveloper. May 9, 2011.
11. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20030802110611/http://www.gamespot.com/all/news/news\_6071762.html
12. ↑ https://www.gamespot.com/articles/eidos-signs-deal-with-guerrilla/1100-6077532/
13. ↑ https://www.gamespot.com/articles/eidos-announces-shellshock-nam-67/1100-6089582/
14. ↑ https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-2/shellshock-nam-67
15. ↑ https://www.sony.com/content/sony/en/en\_us/SCA/company-news/press-releases/sony-computer-entertainment-america-inc/2004/scee-and-guerrilla-sign-exclusive-development-and-publishing-agreement.html
16. ↑ https://www.gamespot.com/articles/killzone-announced-for-the-ps2/1100-6072880/
17. ↑ Studio Profile: Guerrilla Games, GameDeveloper. May 9, 2011.
18. ↑ https://www.destructoid.com/guerrilla-dont-call-killzone-2-a-halo-killer/
19. ↑ https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-2/killzone
20. ↑ https://mtsprout.nl/leiderschap/management/hollands-glorie-killzone
21. ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/2005/05/17/e3-2005-killzone-next-war-witnessed
22. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20181230234228/https://www.ign.com/videos/2005/05/20/killzone-2-ps3-g4tvs-e3-2005-jack-tretton-int
23. ↑ https://www.gamesindustry.biz/e3-scees-phil-harrison-talks-playstation-3
24. ↑ https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2017/12/guerrilla\_finally\_admits\_that\_killzone\_2s\_ps3\_reveal\_trailer\_was\_a\_big\_fat\_fake
25. ↑ https://www.gamedeveloper.com/pc/sony-acquires-guerrilla-games
26. ↑ https://www.gamespot.com/articles/psp-in-the-killzone/1100-6143146/
27. ↑ https://www.engadget.com/2006-10-16-metareview-killzone-liberation.html
28. ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/2007/07/11/e3-2007-killzone-2-impressions
29. ↑ https://www.wired.com/2008/05/sony-killzone-2/
30. ↑ https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/killzone-2/critic-reviews
31. ↑ https://kotaku.com/killzone-2-sells-1-million-worldwide-5215424
32. ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/03/22/killzone-3-confirmed
33. ↑ https://www.gamespot.com/articles/guerrilla-games-talks-rocky-starts-confirms-new-ip/1100-6273818/
34. ↑ https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-3/killzone-3/critic-reviews
35. ↑ https://www.gamesindustry.biz/sony-closing-bigbig-studios-restructuring-cambridge
36. ↑ https://www.eurogamer.net/sony-closes-rigs-studio-guerrilla-cambridge
37. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120224160816/http://www.edge-online.com/news/guerrilla-co-founder-quits-visceral/
38. ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/2015/06/17/e3-2015-horizon-zero-dawns-incredible-balance-of-action-and-rpg
39. ↑ https://blog.playstation.com/2013/02/20/killzone-shadow-fall-announced-for-playstation-4/
40. ↑ https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/killzone-shadow-fall/critic-reviews
41. ↑ https://www.engadget.com/2014-01-29-killzone-shadow-fall-global-sales-top-2-1-million.html
42. ↑ https://www.eurogamer.net/killzone-dev-guerrilla-confirms-work-on-new-ip-has-begun
43. ↑ https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2015/06/26/the-origins-and-world-of-horizon-zero-dawn.aspx
44. ↑ https://venturebeat.com/games/horizon-zero-dawn-noobs-hands-on/
45. ↑ https://www.gamesindustry.biz/fallout-new-vegas-writer-joins-guerrilla-games
46. ↑ https://www.gamerevolution.com/news/9174-guerrilla-games-new-ip-art-leaked-robot-dinosaurs-ps4-horizon
47. ↑ https://blog.playstation.com/archive/2015/06/16/horizon-zero-dawn-announced-for-ps4-from-guerrilla-games/
48. ↑ https://www.polygon.com/2016/6/6/11867182/horizon-zero-dawn-release-date-ps4-delay-trailer
49. ↑ https://www.gamesindustry.biz/horizon-zero-dawn-critical-consensus
50. ↑ https://venturebeat.com/games/sonys-horizon-zero-dawn-sells-2-6-million-units-in-first-two-weeks/
51. ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/horizon-zero-dawn-20-million
52. ↑ https://blog.playstation.com/2017/06/13/announcing-horizon-zero-dawn-the-frozen-wilds/
53. ↑ https://blog.playstation.com/archive/2017/08/07/horizon-zero-dawns-the-frozen-wilds-dlc-release-date-confirmed/
54. ↑ https://www.engadget.com/horizon-forbidden-west-guerrilla-games-developer-interview-143036984.html
55. ↑ https://www.gamespot.com/articles/kojima-partnering-with-killzone-horizon-dev-guerri/1100-6445954/
56. ↑ https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/more-than-70-guerrilla-developers-worked-on-death-stranding/
57. ↑ https://www.gamesindustry.biz/guerrilla-games-hermen-hulst-is-playstations-head-of-worldwide-studios
58. ↑ https://twitter.com/Guerrilla/status/1271191591848423428
59. ↑ https://blog.playstation.com/2021/08/25/horizon-forbidden-west-arrives-on-february-18-2022/
60. ↑ https://www.gamesindustry.biz/horizon-forbidden-west-critical-consensus
61. ↑ https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2020/07/horizon\_forbidden\_west\_writer\_john\_gonzalez\_exits\_guerrilla\_games
62. ↑ https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/8/23499237/horizon-forbidden-west-burning-shores-expansion-dlc-the-game-awards
63. ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/death-stranding-2-officially-announced
64. ↑ https://www.gematsu.com/2022/12/horizon-online-project-in-development-featuring-new-cast-and-stylized-look
65. ↑ https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/guerrilla-studio-director-to-become-head-of-development-strategy-at-playstation-studios
66. ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7056208910529028097/
67. ↑ https://www.gamesradar.com/the-horizon-series-is-only-just-getting-started-as-developer-has-a-pipeline-of-16-plans/
68. ↑ https://twitter.com/LifeAtGuerrilla/status/1603752192166469634
69. ↑ https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfoundry-the-making-of-killzone-shadow-fall
70. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20180813162418/https://gamingbolt.com/horizon-zero-dawn-is-1080p30fps-and-uses-modified-killzone-shadowfall-engine
71. ↑ https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfoundry-2020-horizon-forbidden-west-the-decima-engine-evolved
72. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20180813164633/https://www.dualshockers.com/death-stranding-hideo-kojima-playstation-experience-trailer/
73. ↑ https://www.vg247.com/horizon-zero-dawn-god-of-war-collaboration
74. ↑ https://www.guerrilla-games.com/read/message-from-guerrilla-studio-management?sf177139754=1

## External sites

* Official website
* Twitter account
* YouTube channel

***Killzone***
*Killzone* - *Killzone: Liberation* - *Killzone 2* - *Killzone 3* - *Killzone Shadow Fall*

***Horizon***
*Horizon Zero Dawn* (*The Frozen Wilds*) - *Horizon Forbidden West* (*Burning Shores*)*Horizon Call of the Mountain* - *Horizon Online Project*

**Technology**Decima