Sony Rolls Back On Horizon Forbidden West Upgrade Path But Reinforces Future Titles

While we were a little preoccupied with Gamescom 2021, Sony announced various limited editions and preorder bonuses for their up and coming Horizon Forbidden West which is slated to release on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on 18th February. As part of this announcement Sony announced that only the deluxe and collector’s editions of the game would get a free PS4-PS5 upgrade, meaning that if you bought the base PS4 version of the game, you’d have to pay to make use of the PS5 upgrades. Due to the backlash from fans, this has been rolled back and you’ll now be able to access a free copy of the game, but this will be the last time it’ll happen.

Speaking to the PlayStation Blog, the head of PlayStation Jim Ryan stated:

Last year we made a commitment to deliver free upgrades for our cross-gen launch titles, which included Horizon Forbidden West. While the pandemic’s profound impact pushed Forbidden West out of the launch window we initially envisioned, we will stand by our offer: Players who purchase Horizon Forbidden West on PlayStation 4 will be able to upgrade to the PlayStation 5 version for free.

I also want to confirm today that moving forward, PlayStation first-party exclusive cross-gen titles (newly releasing on PS4 & PS5)–both digital and physical*–will offer a $10 USD digital upgrade option from PS4 to PS5. This will apply to the next God of War and Gran Turismo 7, and any other exclusive cross-gen PS4 & PS5 title published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Jim Ryan, President & CEO, Sony Interactive Entertainment

This means going forward, any cross-gen titles will require you to pay approximately £10 to make use of the power and features of the PS5. We suspect that as the PS5 enters it’s second year the first party titles appearing across both platforms will start to dwindle but it’s still a kick in the teeth for the players unable to buy a PS5 due to the current shortages. It could be especially irritating to players when they see Microsoft offering Smart Delivery across their family of Xbox consoles at no extra cost.

Moving back to Horizon Forbidden West, we have noticed that there is still a £10 difference between the PS4 and PS5 disc versions on Amazon. With the free next gen upgrade, you might as well take advantage, as we’re not sure if the prices will be adjusted going forward.