Horizon Zero Dawn TV series adaptation reportedly quietly cancelled

Horizon Zero Dawn was a successful video game developed by Guerilla Games and released by PlayStation Studios as a PlayStation 4 exclusive. It kickstarted the Horizon franchise, and a sequel titled Horizon Forbidden West was released for Playstation 4 and Playstation 5 in 2022.

Rumors of a Netflix adaptation of the Horizon series have been circulating since May 2022, with little in the way of concrete production updates.

However, per reporting from Rolling Stone magazine's Cheyenne Roundtree, this adaptation of Horizon Zero Dawn might not see the light of day after all, thanks to allegations of workplace abuse leveled against showrunner Steve Blackman on the set of The Umbrella Academy.

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The Horizon Zero Dawn TV adaptation might not be released

According to Rolling Stone magazine's Cheyenne Roundtree, two of showrunner Steve Blackman's projects have been canceled after the publication ran a story accusing him of workplace misconduct. These include the Horizon Zero Dawn adaptation and an original IP named Orbital.

Roundtree was also the author of the Rolling Stone report that chronicles all the allegations of workplace abuse against Steve Blackman.

These included discrimination against female writers, making lewd and bigoted comments, taking credit for work other people did and pitting staff members against one another to earn his favor.

An internal investigation by Universal Content Productions didn't result in any action taken against Steve Blackman, bt=ut most of the people interviewed for the Rolling Stone article alleged that they were never contacted during the investigation.

Steve Blackman (left) at The Umbrella Academy's Premiere

One staffer told Rolling Stone:

When we feel like one person holds the keys to our career, it’s hard. They’re saying, ‘Hey, write these scenes,’ and making all these big promises, and you pour everything you have into the job only to be discarded after. It’s just devastating.

Steve Blackman's representatives denied these allegations, saying in their statement:

Over six years and four seasons overseeing thousands of crew, actors, and writers, Steve Blackman led The Umbrella Academy to become a beloved series with devoted fans, enthralling stories, and a dedicated team making it all possible.

They concluded:

These allegations from a handful of disgruntled employees are completely false and outrageous, and in no way reflect the collaborative, respectful, and successful working environment Mr. Blackman has cultivated.

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What is Horizon Zero Dawn about?

Horizon Zero Dawn is set in a post-apocalyptic future where humanity has regressed into tribalistic societies. They also have to contend with surviving amongst mechanical beasts that they treat with mystery and awe.

The main protagonist of the game is Aloy, who is adopted by the tribal outcast Rost, and consequently has a difficult childhood. When she's attacked during a rite of passage during the Proving, she embarks on a journey to determine why she was targeted and uncovers many hidden truths about the world in the process.

Aloy is eventually revealed to be a clone of Elizabet Sobeck, a scientist who had witnessed the collapse of human civilization, thanks to the destruction wrought by war machines developed by Ted Faro, her former estranged boss.

Elizabet initiated Project Zero Dawn to mitigate the damage caused by Faro's machines and give humanity a fighting chance at survival. Project Zero Dawn developed advanced AI systems to terraform and repopulate the planet.

GAIA is the master system tasked with overseeing the terraforming, APOLLO is the AI system tasked with reeducating a new generation of humans about the old civilization, and HADES is an AI subordinate to GAIA tasked with destroying faulty biosphere constructs so GAIA could try again.

It's revealed that the reason humanity regressed into tribalism was because Ted Faro had deleted APOLLO and murdered the scientists in charge of it. Furthermore, the reason Aloy was hunted down was because HADES had gone rogue and mistook her for Elizabet Sobeck.

Aloy defeats HADES and the cult that followed it in the final battle of the story, saving the world from the rogue AI's machinations. But several mysteries remain regarding the old world and why HADES went rogue to begin with.

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Although Rolling Stone magazine has reported on the possibility of the cancelation of Horizon Zero Dawn's TV adaptation, there have been no official updates from Sony on the show's production status.