SIE Backs Down On Horizon Forbidden West Upgrade Fiasco

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has drawn some flak with the previous announcement that Horizon Forbidden West would not be a free next-gen upgrade unless purchased with specific editions of the game, and has backed down on the idea.

In a new blog post, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan said the following:

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.

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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.

Basically, what his statement says is that Horizon Forbidden West would be a free upgrade between PS4 and PS5 versions, rescinding the previous plan to tie free upgrades to more expensive editions of the game.

The fan pushback from the whole ordeal seems to have changed SIE’s plans going forward as well, with the announcement that first-party titles are going to have 10USD upgrade fees, similar to Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut.

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