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In 2017, Sony released the critically acclaimed video game Horizon Zero Dawn for PlayStation 4. Through the eyes of the young hunter Aloy, players explore the overgrown ruins of a long-lost civilization and encounter the colossal machines that now roam the world. Given its technological conceit, it’s only fitting that someone attended CES 2025 cosplaying as one of these animatronic creatures.
Rick Galinson, a mechanical FX and animatronics designer based in Los Angeles, engineered an astounding costume of the Watcher to promote Horizon Zero Dawn at the event. With its elongated neck and reptilian legs, the machine resembles a small theropod dinosaur and boasts a massive eye. Galinson’s costume brilliantly brings this futuristic creature to life.
Measuring 13 feet and weighing 73 pounds, the costume is operated by a human performer from the inside. To further enhance its realism, the costume is fully articulated, and features sounds as well as lights. The Watcher was also accompanied by an Aloy cosplayer, who donned an intricate bow-and-arrow and an equally detailed costume.
Horizon Zero Dawn encompasses countless mechanical creatures, but the Watcher is one of the most significant. In fact, it’s the first machine the player meets in Horizon, and it serves a critical role in Aloy’s development as a machine hunter. In the popular video game, a 6-year-old Aloy is introduced to Watchers by her guardian, Rost, in an effort to learn how to avoid and ambush machines. As she grows up, Watchers are one of Aloy’s main targets for practicing machine combat.
Cosplaying is an integral part of many video-game and pop-culture communities, but those involving animatronics and advanced mechanics are far less common. It’s precisely this fact that makes Galinson’s Watcher such an impressive tribute to the beloved Horizon Zero Dawn.
Horizon Zero Dawn, a beloved video game released in 2017 for PlayStation 4, features colossal machines that roam and rule the world in the far future.
At CES 2025, a mechanical FX and animatronics designer brought the Watcher, one of the creatures from the game, to life through inventive cosplay.
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