A promise made, has now been fulfilled.
After initially promising a free PS4 to PS5 upgrade for Horizon Forbidden West back in September 2020, PlayStation is now keeping to their word.
Following angry (and justifed) responses from the community, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Jim Ryan, has delivered an update –
“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.”
In additon, Ryan also confirmed that from this point, PlayStation first-party exclusive cross-gen titles (newly releasing on PS4 & PS5)–both digital and physical–will offer a US$10 digital upgrade option from PS4 to PS5. Titles which will receive this treatment would be God of War and Gran Turismo 7 in the near term.
Considering that many folks still have yet to get hold of a PS5, the initial plan from PlayStation was to have players purcahse the US$79.99 Digital Deluxe edition, US$199.99 Collector’s edition, or US$259.99 Regalla edition to get access to both console versions of Horizon Forbidden West.
It’s been a quick U-turn of events but one that could have been avoid in the first place. Regardless, the squeaky wheel gets the grease and PlayStation
Gerald currently straddles between his love of video games and board gaming. There’s nothing that interests him more than trying out the newest and fanciest gadget in town as well. He dreams of publishing a board game sometime in the future!