An alpha test build of Horizon Forbidden West with its debug menu enabled may have potentially leaked on a popular Playstation-focused hacking website.
The file, entitled ‘TestGame’, was uploaded on December 28. It didn’t take long for users to discover that the file was an alpha build of Horizon Forbidden West in its entirety, with an unlockable debug menu enabled (via Insider Gaming).
As the build is debug-unlocked, users now have the potential to reverse-engineer Guerilla Games’ proprietary Decima engine. This could have dire implications for the studio as users experiment with Guerilla’s private technology. The worst possible scenario for Guerilla is if users start trying to create unofficial PC ports with the build.
Leaks like this are on the rarer side, especially considering Horizon Forbidden West is a current-gen triple-A title. As with all leaks, users may be able to discover cut content as well as hints at potential future content within the build.
In a comment left on the aforementioned site, a user stated the following: “For people that don’t know, this is not just any test game. It’s Horizon Forbidden West, but an alpha version of it made when devs had to send it to production so that testers could test it remotely during COVID times.”
In an industry that largely transitioned to a work-from-home model during the pandemic, security vulnerabilities are becoming more pronounced. The Grand Theft Auto VI leak that occurred in September and now this alpha build of Horizon Forbidden West are two examples of massive leaks that occurred in 2022.
Horizon Forbidden West announced an expansion, Burning Shores, at the Game Awards earlier this month. Furthermore, recent job listings point towards Guerilla Games potentially working on a multiplayer mode for the game.
