Sony promised a free upgrade to the PS5 version of Horizon Forbidden West, but it didn’t promise it’d make it easy for us. Apparently, if you want to buy the cheaper version of Horizon 2 on PS4 and play it on PS5, you’ll need to actually buy the game on a PS4 or from PlayStation’s website first, then download the free upgrade file from the PS5 store. If you try to buy it on PS5 first you’ll only find the PS5 version of the game, which costs $10 more than the PS4 version. This is how most people will buy the game, of course, which is exactly the point.
It’s downright diabolical to charge people $10 just because they didn’t figure out how to navigate an obscure loophole, but it isn’t entirely surprising. If you’re unfamiliar with the Horizon Forbidden West price saga, it's been a mess from the start.
When the PS5 launched in late 2020, Sony promised that every cross-generation launch window title would come with a free next-gen upgrade. While the timing for what could be considered launch window wasn’t defined, we knew that it would include Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and Horizon Forbidden West. Horizon was scheduled to release at the end of 2021 but was delayed until February 2022, which apparently pushed it out of the PS5’s launch window, meaning that Sony didn’t owe us a free next-gen upgrade, technically.
When the price breakdown for all the different versions of Horizon came out a week later, people were understandably pissed. Within a matter of days, Sony doubled back, promising that Horizon Forbidden West would come with a free next-gen upgrade like the rest of the PS5 launch titles, but that it would be the last cross-gen game to offer it.
Now that we’re just a week away from the launch of Horizon Forbidden West, it’s clear that Sony is still going to make us pay for the upgrade, in a way. Instead of taking reasonable efforts to avoid customers confusion by bundling the PS4 version with the free upgrade in the PS5 store (or, you know, just making both versions the same price), Sony has opted to hide the PS4 version from PS5 players. This way, only the most tuned-in players that frequent video game websites (thank you) will know about it. The vast majority of the millions that will buy Horizon 2 on launch day will be none the wiser about the opportunity to save $10. Sony gets to make good on its promise while hiding the deal from people that don’t know any better and creating a hassle for everyone that doesn’t want to pay extra for the same game
Even calling it a ‘deal’ is disingenuous. You’re not getting some kind of remaster or director’s cut with the PS5 version. There’s no extra content or bonus DLC in the next-gen version. The PS5 version will have a 60fps performance mode, 3D audio and DualSense support, better lighting, and faster load times. This is the equivalent of charging extra for a PC game because you have a good video card and an SSD in your computer. No one would stand for a $10 ray tracing fee, but PS5 upgrade fees somehow make sense?
Microsoft was ahead of the game in this instance with Smart Delivery, a feature I didn’t understand when it was first revealed because I couldn’t fathom how anti-customer Sony would get with all this upgrade nonsense. There’s still time for Sony to fix the store options for Horizon so that people aren’t mistakenly overpaying when it comes out later this month. After that, get used to paying a fee if you want the benefits of the hardware you had also paid for.
If you want my advice, just wait a couple of months and buy all your PS5 games on PS4 when they get discounted. Pay the $10 once the PS4 version drops more than $10. This is what I did for Death Stranding: Director’s Cut - which, for what it’s worth, is an enhanced edition of the game with extra content. Instead of buying it on PS5 for $50, I bought a used PS4 version at GameStop for $20 and paid the $10 upgrade fee. The system is terrible, but the best we can do is try to make it work for us.