Horizon Forbidden West has sold 8.4 million copies, as of April 16. In a PlayStation blog post celebrating the 20th anniversary of developer Guerrilla Games, studio director Jan-Bart van Beek confirmed that the Horizon franchise has overall sold 32.7 million units. “Millions more around the world have discovered Horizon thanks to PlayStation’s subscription services and initiatives, including PlayStation Plus, and Play at Home,” he said. 2022’s Forbidden West still has a long way to go before surpassing Horizon Zero Dawn’s sales numbers. Guerrilla announced last year that the first game in the series sold 20 million copies across PS4 and PC.
“This reception has been staggering, and we’re grateful to the community for the continued love and support for the franchise. We Guerrillas feel lucky to witness that support every day: we share community fanart and cosplay. I want you all to know we are completely blown away by your enthusiasm,” Van Beek added, promising that protagonist Aloy’s adventures will continue in a sequel, with the cliffhanger ending of Forbidden West setting up plot points for the same. The game recently received a paid expansion — Burning Shores — which turned Los Angeles into a lava-spitting archipelago. While not explicitly mentioned, the aforementioned 32.7 million sales figure should include both mainline game launches on PS4 and PS5, The Frozen Wilds DLC for the first game, the Burning Shores DLC, Horizon: Call of the Mountain on PS VR2, and the PC release of Horizon Zero Dawn.
What a ride so far! Thank you for being a part of this incredible journey with Horizon. We’re thrilled that our community is growing and so many around the world have found their place in Horizon. pic.twitter.com/D0VxffOZYN
— Guerrilla (@Guerrilla) May 9, 2023
The Horizon universe is further expanding into a Netflix series, helmed by Steve Blackman, best known for The Umbrella Academy. The plot seems to draw heavily from huntress Aloy’s origin story — chronicling her journey from getting treated as an outcast in her tribe to becoming a hero that saves mankind from a catastrophic threat in a dystopian future. Michelle Lovretta (Killjoys) partners with Blackman on the script, joining PlayStation’s ever-growing portfolio of screen adaptations, which includes a God of War series for Amazon Prime Video as well.
A report from October suggested that Horizon Zero Dawn was getting remastered for the PS5, promising improved lighting, overhauled textures, and better animations. In the recent past, Sony has greenlit controversial remakes and remasters for its popular first-party games. They recently released The Last of Us Part I on PS5 and later ported it to PC, when the game already existed in a remastered state for the PS4. For being a six-year-old game, Horizon Zero Dawn still looks great, and the possibility of native 4K support on PS5 shouldn’t warrant anything more than a $10 (about Rs. 820) upgrade. Given their track record of milking The Last of Us, I personally wouldn’t be surprised to see Horizon Zero Dawn re-selling for an overpriced $70 (about Rs. 5,743) price tag on the PS5.
Horizon Forbidden West is available on the PS4 and PS5.