Horizon Forbidden West will get free PS4-to-PS5 upgrade after customer blowback

Customers who purchase Horizon Forbidden West on PlayStation 4 will also get the PlayStation 5 version for free, regardless of the version they buy, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced Saturday. That’s a change from the plan Sony and developer Guerrilla Games announced Thursday, which only offered dual-platform entitlements for Horizon Forbidden West (for PS4 and PS5) if customers bought the $79.99 Digital Deluxe edition or a more expensive edition of the game. There was no upgrade path from PS4 to PS5 at the time.

SIE president and CEO Jim Ryan announced the change in an update posted to Sony’s PlayStation Blog, saying “it’s abundantly clear that the offerings we confirmed in our pre-order kickoff missed the mark.”

Thursday was to be a celebration of Horizon Forbidden West and the amazing team at Guerrilla working to deliver it on February 18, 2022. However, it’s abundantly clear that the offerings we confirmed in our pre-order kickoff missed the mark.

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

Horizon Forbidden West will launch on PS4 and PS5 on Feb. 18, 2022.

[table]