Lance Reddick’s Sylens played a key role in Horizon Zero Dawn, Forbidden West, and, given how the latter ended, would have likely been a big part of the unnamed third entry, too. His untimely death has caused some speculate about what Guerrilla Games would do without him, but according to narrative director Ben McCaw, the team hasn’t thought about it yet.
Sylens’ future in Horizon has yet to be determined
McCaw divulged this in an interview with Video Games Chronicle. When asked about the future of the series without Reddick, he focused on the real world and not the game’s.
“We’re really just sort of focused on absorbing this tragedy and sending out our thoughts to his family,” said McCaw. “We’ve not thought about it. It’s not really the time to think about it. We just miss him.”
McCaw and lead writer Annie Kitain also shared their favorite memories working with Reddick. McCaw called out a specific moment when Reddick was on stage with Aloy’s actor Ashly Burch for the Zero Dawn’s Frozen Wilds DLC, as it was the first time the two had recorded lines in the same room. Kitain didn’t work with Reddick directly, but said she enjoyed writing for such a unique character like Sylens.
Speculation about what Guerrilla will do with Sylens’ character has run rampant since Reddick’s death. He was set to play a prominent role in the next game, and the situation is a little stranger than it would be normally since Sylens’ is modeled directly after Reddick.