Has Sony milked the Horizon series dry?

The Killzone game was probably Microsoft’s answer to the hugely successful Halo game at the time. Killzone 2 in particular was critically acclaimed and cemented Guerrilla Games‘ status as a graphics wizard. But the games never sold well, and Killzone: Shadow Fall was canceled 11 years ago.

Up until the PlayStation 4, it was usually Sony’s approach for developers to make a series of games that were all but abandoned by the end of a generation. So, Sony has a good collection of games, most of which are available on one console (with the exception of the occasional PlayStation format, or newer versions with better graphics. Killzone cannot be considered such a game , but he still delivered 5 games in just 9 years, only to be eliminated.

Killzone wasn’t Guerrilla’s first game, but it was their definitive breakthrough. As a beloved series, it didn’t sell as well as Sony had hoped.

Since then, Guerrilla has been synonymous with the Horizon series, the first of which (Horizon: Zero Dawn) is one of the best designed games I know, with a main character that I ‘ thinking that brought a lot of innovation to the world of games. It’s definitely not the best game in the world, but I’d probably give it an eight out of 10, and combined with the insanely gorgeous world and the cooler enemies, it was a real hit.

Here’s a hint:

In the industry, this almost automatically meant a sequel, and Horizon: Forbidden West came out five years later. However, it comes at a time when Sony has decided that instant service is the future, with a clear focus on better leveraging its biggest brand. So, in the same year, 2022, it was announced that Horizon would become a TV series. Additionally, a VR game Horizon: Call of the Mountain was announced.

The world of Horizon is definitely one of the best and most interesting game worlds ever created.

At the same time, rumors started circulating that Horizon: Zero Dawn would be the next game to get the Sony remaster treatment, and looking at the reviews for it in our news, they were all negative. The consensus is that the game is too new to remake and too good to need a remake. Today, we know that the data is correct, Horizon: Zero Dawn Remastered was announced this year and is now released, as well as an updated version of Horizon: Forbidden West released for PC than earlier this year. Additionally, Lego Horizon Adventures was announced this year and released recently. In addition, we know that a live-action version of Horizon is in development, which is rumored to launch next year, and that a new adventure with Aloy is also in the works.

Over the past few months, we’ve seen a noticeable change in the way you (and others on gaming forums and social media) talk about Horizon. After being an acclaimed series with a unique world and two excellent main games, the tone has become more serious. Horizon: Call of the Mountain was not a huge success and received lower ratings than previous installments, and the recent remaster was considered unnecessary and many felt that Sony acted unfairly and greedily in their attempt to make consumers pay dearly for this by stopping the sale. of the cheaper original version.

Here’s a hint:

Netflix has invested heavily in video game adaptations (left to right: Arcane, Cyberpunk, and Castlevania), and BioShock and Gears of War are in development. However, Horizon is currently cancelled, but we assume that Sony is looking for other partners. // Riot Games

Then there’s Lego Horizon Adventures, which had pretty disastrous numbers on Steam and a pretty mediocre rating. Fans seemed completely disinterested in it, and I think Sony failed to show how they could effectively beat the success of the brand through pre-development. This isn’t unique to Sony, but we’ve seen it many times before, and fans can only take so much because the projects have to be up to par.

Of course, I don’t know how good the upcoming Live Service game will be, but it risks being a very expensive venture for Sony because it just isn’t what fans want. New Concord may seem impossible, but instant service is a style of play that requires a large number of players to play and buy stuff constantly, which is the exact opposite of what a series is. Horizon represents. In short, there seems to be a risk that people will just give it away, which shows the dangers of working in the games world right now.

Ubisoft is a publisher that puts every effort into its series. As long as it works, it will work – until it doesn’t work anymore.

Just look at Ubisoft, which has essentially become an Assassin’s Creed factory and has been experiencing a significant decline in market value for some time. There’s always talk of some kind of acquisition now, and if the Assassin’s Creed series starts to decline, I’d say the whole company is in trouble. They just put all their eggs in one basket.

I’ve written before about how the gaming world needs to launch new big brands again, but unfortunately there are plenty of signs that the trend is moving in the opposite direction, and that becomes less and less. Famous brands will launch products other than new series, and as a result players can get tired of a series they loved before and not ready to replace what they have worn.

Every time we write about Horizon in 2024, the reviews are almost always negative, far from the past. Let’s hope Sony listens.

10 or 15 years ago there were frequent complaints in the comments section of Gamereactor about milking the series, in a time when there was much less milking than there is today, so many games were part of the franchise and they were always updated with one updated version after that. another one is released (if it’s not a remaster, then a PC version, or on new console hardware). If next year’s live service games prove that fans are fed up with Horizon, Sony has no one to blame but itself, and I hope the rest of the gaming community is paying close attention to this , because the metaphorical cow must eventually be replaced when the time comes. When the time comes, it would be important to have something in place.