The happiness at the opening of the pre-orders of Horizon Forbidden West was partially offset by the discontent generated by Sony’s choice not to offer the free upgrade from PS4 to PlayStation 5 for buyers of the Standard (physical and digital) and Special editions (only digital).
In fact, only those who purchase an edition of their choice between Digital Deluxe, Collector’s and Regalla will have access to the Dual Entitlement program to download both versions of Horizon Forbidden West. Sony hasn’t even planned a paid update program along the lines of the one offered for Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut.
A choice that apparently would have also proved contradictory. In September last year, as part of an interview granted to the Washington Post on the occasion of the reveal of the launch date and prices of PS5, the president Jim Ryan promised the free upgrade also for Horizon Forbidden West and Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales, whose PS4 versions had just been announced.
The announcement of the PS4 editions of games that until recently were expected as only next-gen products irritated some players, who still had in mind the famous statements of the president himself regarding the importance of generations. In an effort to reassure the latter, Jim Ryan stated, “Nobody should be disappointed. The PS5 versions of those games have been built from the ground up to take advantage of the new PlayStation 5 features, and we have a free upgrade path that will allow PS4 users to get PS5 versions for free. It’s about giving people choices. I’m pretty happy with this situation. “
The rest is history: Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales has actually granted the free upgrade from PS4 to PS5, even in its Standard version (as well as Sackboy A Great Adventure), Horizon Forbidden West instead no. Evidently, over the months Sony has decided to change its strategy.