Hermen Hulst, former co-founder of Guerilla Games, developers of the Horizon series and now co-CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, is excited to announce that the company has greenlit a remastered version of the so-called “cult classic” Horizon: Zero Dawn, which originally launched for the PlayStation 4 in early 2017 and received a PC release four years ago.
Rumored after an ESRB listing leak, Sony has officially confirmed yet another re-release of one of their first-party titles, this time remastering a game that’s still relatively recent. Horizon: Zero Dawn will be re-released on October 31st with enhanced visuals and technical upgrades for the PlayStation 5 and PC, seemingly aimed at generating profit with minimal investment.
For reasons that remain unclear, aside from allowing his friends at Guerilla Games to exhaust their budget, Hermen Hulst has greenlit the remastering of Horizon: Zero Dawn to bring it up to the technical level of its sequel, Horizon: Forbidden West.
This effort included re-recording over ten hours of dialogue and redoing the game’s motion capture, a notoriously expensive process which ultimately ISN’T necessary.
However, many gamers have voiced strong criticism of the Horizon franchise, particularly regarding the portrayal of its protagonist, Aloy.
In both games, Aloy has been depicted as unattractive, with many feeling that Forbidden West took this further, presenting her as overweight and more masculine.
In the sequel, Aloy’s character model became even more detailed, featuring what some perceive as unflattering additions like facial hair, and a focus on hyper-realistic elements such as fully rendered nipples, fueling further complaints from fans.
Some of these characteristics have been carried over into the remake of Horizon: Zero Dawn, with significant improvements in detailing, particularly in Aloy’s hair.
However, her updated appearance is intentionally aligned with her look in Horizon: Forbidden West, resulting in a wider face and a more pronounced chin. Unfortunately, these changes have made her even less attractive in the remake, drawing further criticism from fans.
Despite the minimal improvement in graphical fidelity or resolution on the PlayStation 5, where the original Horizon: Zero Dawn already runs smoothly with its native “enhanced” 60fps option, the remaster seems unnecessary.
The game was released on PC as recently as October 2020, making its port barely four years old, yet Sony is eager to push this altered, less appealing version of Aloy onto players, even on the PC platform.
On the plus side, you’re not required to pay the full AAA price of $60, provided you already own the game on PS4 or PC. In that case, you can access the enhanced version for a $10 USD upgrade fee. However, for those who don’t already own the original, there’s no way around paying the full $60 for the remaster.
Ultimately, the smarter move would be to purchase the original at a discounted rate and then pay for the $10 upgrade, or simply pirate the game again if you’re on PC.
However, in a shrewd move, Sony has doubled the price of the existing Horizon: Zero Dawn on their official PlayStation storefront, capitalizing on the “hype” of the remaster that no one asked for, effectively gouging audiences in the process.
Horizon: Zero Dawn had been priced at $19.99 for years as part of the PlayStation Hits collection, alongside other titles like God of War and The Last of Us Remastered, which have maintained the same price. However, Sony quietly raised the price from $20 to $40 in the U.S. and from £16 to £35 in the UK.
The intent behind this move seems clear: to prevent gamers from saving money and “outsmarting” Sony, which is likely facing financial pressures. Previously, you could buy the game for $20 and then pay an additional $10 for the remastered upgrade.
Now, if you’re purchasing it fresh, you’re forced to spend $50, only a $10 saving compared to the full $60 remaster price making it far less appealing for those who don’t already own the original.
The PSN digital price for Horizon: Zero Dawn is now closely aligned with the Steam version when not on sale. Sony will likely drop the price again during the upcoming sales season, which runs from October through December with multiple sales events.
However, the release of the remastered version could lead to the delisting of the original, nothing is certain in gaming these days, so it’s wise to expect the worst and be prepared.
Sony has yet to clarify whether the remastered Horizon: Zero Dawn on PC will require a PlayStation Network account, similar to recent titles like Ghost of Tsushima and the troubled launch of God of War Ragnarok, which either have partial or full PSN account requirements on Steam to access single-player content.
It’s clear why Sony decided to raise the price of the original game. They recently announced a $700 digital-only console, the PlayStation 5 Pro, which serves as a side-grade to the existing PS5 that has steadily increased in price since its release.
Unlike the previous generation, where the PlayStation 4 Pro launched years after the standard model at the same MSRP as the original console, effectively lowering the price of the PS4 Slim, the situation is different for the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro.
Despite Sony’s lack of exclusives for the system, many of which eventually make their way to PC, the pricing strategy seems aimed at maximizing profits rather than enhancing value for gamers.
Sony is desperate to recover and improve its finances following the catastrophic failure of Concord, a live-service hero shooter that launched for $40 in an oversaturated market.
The game featured some of the most bland and overly inclusive character designs imaginable, leading to its cancellation just two weeks after release.
Sony refunded all buyers, resulting in losses amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. These financial setbacks have evidently influenced their recent announcements regarding both hardware and software. The introduction of a $700 stop-gap machine for a platform that lacks compelling exclusives, combined with the optional purchases of disc drives and vertical stands, is simply egregious.
The announcement of a remaster for Horizon: Zero Dawn during Sony’s latest State of Play conference isn’t thrilling. Consumers have been clamoring for a re-release or remaster of Bloodborne for years.
Meanwhile, the PC community has been vocal in their disappointment over the Horizon: Zero Dawn remake, criticizing Guerilla Games for making the already unattractive protagonist, Aloy, even less appealing with more detailed but unflattering features.
It’s hard to believe that many console gamers are excited about this reveal either, especially given the lukewarm and negative reception surrounding Naughty Dog’s recent “remakes” of The Last of Us and its sequel.
The decision to artificially inflate prices for a seven-year-old game on the console platform, merely to prevent new consumers from saving a few dollars reflects Sony’s greed and their precarious financial situation.
After incurring losses exceeding $200 million, they are desperate to recoup their investment. This move also highlights the direction the console industry is heading as it gradually shifts toward an all-digital ecosystem where “your” games can and WILL be taken away from you for any reason.
If you own Horizon: Zero Dawn on disc for the PS4 and have opted for a more expensive PS5 console with a disc drive, you can easily avoid these price hikes and purchase the PS5 digital upgrade but this does generally nothing to change the situation that the PlayStation 5 is turning into the console generation of remakes.
