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Unique collaboration between the Rijksmuseum and Guerrilla

Artworks from Rijksmuseum collection on display within Horizon Forbidden West™

Publication date: 06 April 2022 - 13:00

The Night Watch, Vermeer's Woman Reading a Letter and eight other works from the Rijksmuseum's collection are included within Horizon Forbidden West, a videogame made by local Amsterdam game developer Guerrilla and available on PlayStation® 4 and PlayStation® 5 consoles.

The Rijksmuseum is constantly looking for new ways to promote art and in particular our collection. Through this collaboration we present our collection to a new worldwide community

Hendrikje Crebolder, Director of Media and Development, Rijksmuseum

The game is set in a post-post-apocalyptic world in which protagonist Aloy has to face deadly machines. Aloy meets Tilda, a Dutch art collector who protects works of art from the Rijksmuseum collection in her vault. When Aloy walks in for the first time, she is impressed by the works that hang prominently on the high concrete walls. In this room, Aloy – and the player – can stay as long as desired and discuss the works with Tilda.

This game is about the relationship of the present, past and future. Ideas and emotions are passed on. That's what art does. Our collaboration shows that in art the past resonates, inspires us in the present and continues to do so in the future. That's why it's so important to conserve art.

Ben McCaw, Narrative Director, Guerrilla

The works of art featured in the game:

  • The Night Watch, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1642
  • Woman Reading a Letter, Johannes Vermeer, c. 1663
  • Titus in a Monk’s Habit, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1660
  • Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1630
  • Woman Reading Music, Han van Meegeren, 1935–1940
  • Selene and Endymion, Gerard de Lairesse, c. 1680
  • A Ship on the High Seas Caught by a Squall, known as ‘The Gust’, Willem van de Velde the Younger, c. 1680
  • Lidded ewer, Adam van Vianen the Elder, 1614
  • Frenzy, Artus Quellinus the Elder (attributed to the workshop of the artist), after 1648–during or before 1662
  • Bacchant, Adriaen de Vries, 1626

Gamers can have Aloy talk to Tilda about the works to learn more about Tilda's art and character. On the website of the Rijksmuseum a special Horizon Forbidden West collection has been created in Rijksstudio. Horizon Forbidden West fans and art admirers alike can learn more about these works of art and see them up close and personal displayed in the Rijksmuseum.