Horizon Forbidden West has hidden areas that look suspiciously like DLC

Could Burning Shores be the first DLC for Horizon Forbidden West?

Exploration is part and parcel of Horizon Forbidden West, but we’re supposed to be doing it within the confines of the map. For many curious fans, this is not an obstacle. With a few tricks, areas of the world can be explored that should not actually be accessible – and some of them are surprisingly detailed that we should not get to see them up close.

Horizon Forbidden West could hide DLC locations in the game

Even in Horizon Zero Dawn, before the release of the Frozen Wilds DLC, there were hints about the expansion in the game. For example, if you walked along the path that would later lead to the DLC area, the game would tell you that you were about to leave the game area and turn back, otherwise the last save would be loaded.

Hidden Ruins: Pretty much the same hint can also be found in a certain area in the sequel, like YouTuber JorRaptor notes. Northwest of Hohlfels there is a path that you cannot normally access as it is across a cliff that cannot be climbed. With the help of your pterodactyl you can reach a perch further up and explore the path from there. There’s even a crooked tree along the way that looks suspiciously like Aloy might knock it over to get ahead.

If we now fly even higher, we can see the ruins of a fortress in the distance. What is striking here is that the area looks quite detailed for the fact that we actually never get to see it up close. There are even ziplines for Aloy.

Hints at Burning Shores as a new area

As in the previous game, there are also references to areas in Foridden West that do not yet exist in the game itself. For example, a data point that appears to have been written by Frozen Wilds NPC Gildun points to a place called Burning Shores, which is said to be to the south.

And a second known NPC could also refer to it: If we go to a campfire southwest of Reinklang, we will find another data point here. It talks about a Banuk shaman drinking machine oil – presumably a reference to the shaman Brin we can meet in Zero Dawn – and making his way to the “Place of Flame and Salty Water”. The mysterious Burning Shores could also be meant here.

We don’t yet know what this location is all about, but JorRaptor speculates that it could be Los Angeles, which is south of the Horizon Forbidden West map. You can watch the full video for yourself here:

link to YouTube content

More on Horizon Forbidden West:

More secret areas

Incidentally, these are not the only areas in the game that are normally inaccessible. An island that is actually outside the map is also listed in the video. With some But you can still explore the tricks. Elsewhere, Aloy can also get under the game world map through a hidden passage. We don’t know whether any of these areas are possible DLC areas or whether they were removed from the game during development, but a DLC for Horizon Forbidden West is at least not unlikely.

Did you already know these areas? What do you think is the most likely DLC location?