With the direction gaming is going in with crossplay and fewer exclusives, it makes sense that PlayStation is bringing more games to PC, andHorizon Zero Dawnis a good example of this. Although the game was initially loved and praised, with the PC port being a great way to play the game, the latest remaster has not shared in the original’s success, nor has there been much noise about it. It has come and gone without much fanfare, and theHorizon Zero Dawnremaster is not the only title to suffer from this problem.
It should be noted that this latest version ofHorizon Zero Dawnis a remaster, not a remake. It might not have cost as much compared to the likes of theShadow of the ColossusandDemon Soulsremakes, but thatdoesn’t mean that Sony won’t be alarmed by the concerning numbers behind its latest remaster. It isn’t as though the original game wasn’t well received and hasn’t enjoyed success long after its release. It just feels like the wrong game to remaster, and this could change PlayStation’s approach in the future.
Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered Isn’t Performing Well
The Interest In This Remaster Wasn’t There To Begin With
Although PlayStation is often secretive about sales and player numbers, Steam is much more overt with its data and, according toSteamDB charts,Horizon Zero Dawn Remasteredis not performing well at all. At its peak, the remastered version of the game had 2,538 players, which pales in comparison to the 56,557 players that the original PC port managed at its peak. This is surprising, considering that Steam players owning the original port canupgrade to the remaster for $10rather than paying the full price.
The original port ofHorizon Zero Dawncan only be bought on Steam as a bundle with the remastered version.
A big reason for this is that the general audience forHorizon Zero Dawndoesn’t seem to particularly care about the game getting remastered. Interest was minimal to begin with, especiallysince the originalHorizon Zero Dawnstill looks good, and the remastered edition hasn’t made massive strides in improving the graphical fidelity. Yes, it does look better, but not enough for people to pay more for it when the original version is more than adequate. Another issue is that the original can be played on every platform the remastered version can be played on.
10 Best Improvements In Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered
Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered improves upon the original game in many meaningful ways, including enhancing textures and completely changing cutscenes.
In general, there isn’t much of a reason to get the remaster when the original is cheaper and already on enough modern platforms. Logically speaking, this shouldn’t be the game to remaster when other titles have yet to make their way onto PC.Almost everyone who wants to playHorizon Zero Dawnprobably already owns the original version, whether for PS4, which the PS5 is backward compatible with, or on PC. There just isn’t a market for this game’s remaster, and if Sony wants to push the series into the limelight, another proper sequel would do the job better.
PlayStation Remasters Have Mostly Been Unnecessary
Horizon Zero Dawn Isn’t The Only Game Suffering From Unnecessary Remasters
It seems that PlayStation has not learned from its other remaster mistakes from the past,sinceHorizon Zero Dawnis not the only game that got a new addition that no one was asking for.The Last of Usalready had a remaster for the PS4 that still looks great, and rather than just porting this version to PC, the whole game got remade from the ground up. In that case,The Last of Us Part 1was the game’s PC debut, which likely assisted in the game performing much better on Steam thanHorizon Zero Dawn Remasteredcurrently is.
PlayStation’s Newest Remaster Proves Why Physical Games Still Matter
PlayStation’s moving further and further toward an all-digital ecosystem, but one Sony announcement shows how much this could hurt consumers.
DespiteTheLast of Us Part 1doing a lot better thanHorizon Zero Dawn Remastered,it does show a worrying trend of PlayStation making unnecessary remakes and remasters.TheLast of Us Part 2was remasteredearlier this year despite the original version already being one of the best-looking games ever made. While the new version does add some features, it shouldn’t have been a remaster and should have been described more as a director’s cut, like withGhost of Tsushima,since not a lot has changed visually other than a few tweaks.
Ghost of Tsushima’sdirector’s cut is the only version available on Steam.
Continuing to make new editions ofThe Last of Usdoes at least make sense,since the franchise has a massively successful HBO series and a couple of Game of the Year Awards to its name, but pushing theHorizonseries feels forced in comparison. The games are good, but the franchise isn’t as popular despite turning up everywhere, from aGenshin ImpactAloy characterto its ownLEGOgame titledLEGO Horizon Adventures. With IPs likeGod of WarandSpider-Manat its disposal, it doesn’t feel like there’s a need for Sony to lean onHorizonthis much.
Sony Needs To Remaster The Right Games
Bringing Bloodborne To PC Would Print Money
The relative failure ofHorizon Zero Dawn Remastereddoesn’t mean that remakes and remasters are a bad idea in general for PlayStation, and the hope is that the company won’t see it that way. Sony just needs to be smarter about what games it should remake and remaster. Up until recently, it has done a decent job, remakingShadow of the ColossusandDemon Souls, both of which were brilliant for showing off the technical capabilities of their consoles at the time.
Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered Explains How It’s Improving The Game & It Sounds Better Than Expected
After being criticized by fans, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered breaks down how it’s improving on the beloved open-world action-adventure game.
In general, it feels likeSony needs to pick either a classic to remaster or go for specific games that have a massive amount of appealdespite not being that old.Bloodbornewould be a great choice to remasteror even remake. The game deserves to run at 60FPS, and bringing it to PC would significantly expand the audience, considering how big Soulsborne titles are on PC. ASly CooperorJak and Daxterremaster or remake could also be on the cards, and these would be better choices than recent titles likeHorizon Zero Dawn.
Withthe overall failure ofHorizon Zero Dawn Remastered, PlayStation could, and probably should, step away from trying to force the franchise into being something that it isn’t ready to be yet. A few more installments that are just as good as the first two games are needed to help build a proper legacy to make the title a true icon of the PlayStation roster, and an unnecessary remaster isn’t going to help matters.Horizon Zero Dawnshouldn’t try to copy whatThe Last of Ushas done, as that series is an extreme outlier when it comes to reaching icon status.
