Sci-fi themed Lego figures (photo credit should be OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
Lego Horizon Adventures was officially announced and it signals that video games are entering the cultural zeitgeist like never before.
This year’s Summer Game Fest showcase kicked off with a trailer for Lego Horizon Adventures—a Lego adaptation of Guerrilla Games’ Horizon series.
In the original Horizon In games, you play as the outcast Aloy and hunt gigantic machine creatures in a post-apocalyptic, sci-fi setting. In addition to performing impressive takedowns of what are essentially robot dinosaurs, Aloy must piece together her own history and the history of Earth’s apocalypse.
The trailer in front Lego Horizon Adventures showed a Lego version of Aloy wandering around Horizon‘S lush and colorful landscape. The game seems to be filled with the quirky charm and humor that characterize it Lego games.
Lego games have a long history of drawing from licensed properties, starting with Lego maker: Harry Potter in 2001. Lego games have custom content from Batman, Miracle, the Lord of the RingsAnd Star Wars.
These franchises represent some of the most beloved stories and worlds of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Most of the Lego games are based on movies or books that have been turned into movies.
But Lego Horizon Adventures becomes a game about a video game. This surprised me.
While technically Lego Horizon Adventures is not the first Lego game based on a separate video game franchise (Lego rock band came out in 2009 And Lego Fortnite came out in 2023) it represents a departure. It’s the first Lego The game will be based on a triple-A single-player role-playing game (RPG).
Single-player RPG games (Fallout, GTA, red death) are expensive and take a lot of time to play. They are associated with storytelling differently than mobile games and online games.
The fact that Lego bases its latest title on a single-player RPG game, says something about the state of video games: video games and the stories they tell are entering pop culture in a new way.
The original Horizon Games have sold more than 32 million copies worldwide. We’re at a time where video games represent the largest portion of the entertainment industry. The industry produces more than the film and music industries combined.
More than 200 million Americans play video games. Summer Game Fest attracts more viewers than the Academy Awards.
Considering that it’s funny, light and approachable Lego games have attracted children and more casual players, it is likely that this new title will revolutionize the world of Horizon to a new audience.
While this may pose challenges (kids likely won’t already be familiar with the franchise), it also reflects the fact that studio execs are confident that Horizon‘S story and fanbase are strong enough to carry the new game.
Such as the abundance of successful TV series that bring gaming stories (Fallout, The witcher, The last of us) for a new audience, Lego Horizon Adventures marks a moment when powerful video game storytelling finds success with an audience that has never played games before.
I’m excited about the ways in which that’s happening Lego Horizon Adventures could potentially bring a new audience into the world of gaming. I hope the game will give different types of players (including families with young children) the opportunity to connect during Aloy’s fun and meaningful adventure.
Lego Horizon Adventures will be released on PlayStation 5, PC and Nintendo Switch at the end of 2024.