It'll Cost You More To Play Horizon Forbidden West On PS5
If you're ready to battle mechanised monsters all over again, Guerilla Games is getting ready to (finally) release Horizon Forbidden West. After the all-star sequel to 2017's Horizon Zero Dawn was delayed, there are more complaints.
While we've been relatively lucky that buying most cross-gen games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War have you play on next-gen for nothing, that's about to change. Breaking from the norm, it will officially cost you more to play Horizon Forbidden West on PlayStation 5 than it will on PlayStation 4.
Why does it cost you more to play Horizon Forbidden West on PS5 than PS4?
Like Lara Croft crossed with Merida from Brave, Aloy has become an icon of the newer PlayStation IPs. Considering Zero Dawn was one of the best-selling PS4 games of all time, a sequel was always likely. The problem is, Horizon Forbidden West falls into that weird limbo between generations. As Sony continues to try and make the most of its 116.4 million PS4s sold, it makes sense that Forbidden West was always going to hit both consoles.
Showing off the confusing release path of Forbidden West on a PlayStation blog, Sony explained there's no way to upgrade from the Standard Forbidden West to its Digital Deluxe Edition. This means that if you bought either the Standard or Special Editions on the PS4 and fancy upgrading to PS5 at a later date, you'll have to pay all over again.
Worse than this, there are "no plans" to introduce the upgrade option. You'll be able to transfer your game data between generations (big whoop), but that's about it. So, the pricing breakdown reveals that Horizon Forbidden West will cost $59.99 on PS4 and $69.99 on PS5. If you want to possibly play the game on a console you might not even own yet, you'll have to pay $79.99 for the Digital Deluxe Edition.
What have fans said about Horizon Forbidden West being more expensive on PS5?
Sony has confirmed that Forbidden West is one of the few titles that will actually charge you more to play on next-gen. It was only a matter of time, but safe to say, the news hasn't gone down well online. In response to the announcement post, the comment section soon filled with wrath.
One disgruntled fan wrote, "What a freaking joke PlayStation has become", while another added, "Vote with your wallet". A third concluded, "It’s a really poor choice to not offer a PS4 to PS5 upgrade path when people still can’t get a PS5 really. There should be a $10 upgrade option for those people. C’mon Sony."
If this wasn't enough, the plethora of versions also includes the jaw-droppingly priced Collector’s and Regalla Editions that come in some admittedly lovely looking steelbook cases. The problem with these is, they bafflingly don't come with a disc - opting for a digital download code instead.
Returning to the debacle of locking the PS5 version behind a costly paywall, there is a chance Sony will offer some sort of discount for those who've previously owned Forbidden West on PS4, but either way, it isn't looking good for this already troubled title.