The people in charge at Sony probably look the same way as Aloy when they think about the number of players for Horizon: Zero Dawn Remastered on Steam.
After Sony recently attracted attention due to controversial decisions regarding compulsory PSN on Steam and Epic, there are now negative headlines for the publisher again.
The recently released remaster of Horizon: Zero Dawn has become a real flop. While the Steam ratings are at least balanced are, they can be Classify player numbers as catastrophic.
The original wins the battle for players
Horizon: Zero Dawn Remastered was released on Steam on October 31, 2024 and is only available on the platform three days later 2,383 concurrent players record. The all-time high was on release day and corresponded to a meager 2,538 users.
These are frightening numbers for a new release. Especially because the first PC port of 2020 still has better player numbers even four years after release. On November 3rd the original recorded 2,872 playersalmost 500 more than the new version.
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Horizon Zero Dawn gets even more beautiful with the newly announced remaster
The situation is similar with the reviews: While the remaster with only 63 percent positive reviews is punished, include the original 76 percent before. Various aspects of the new edition are criticized, such as a lack of improvements, new bugs and the requirement to create a PSN account.
The difference will be even more serious upon closer inspection. Overall, the original stands at 87 percent, but there has been a drop in the last few days as some users complain about the PSN requirement of the upgrade. So negative reviews of the remaster have spilled over.
What is the reason for the low number of players?
Few improvements and a short time lag: When Horizon Zero: Dawn was ported to the PC in 2020, the version already received numerous improvements compared to the PS4 version from 2017. Since the technological leaps since then have been limited, the progress here is also relatively small. Buyers therefore do not receive sufficient incentive to play the game again just four years after the first release.
PLUS
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5th place: Horizon Zero Dawn – “Fantastic ideas for an open world” – The ten best open world games
High price: Buyers of the original will be asked to pay ten dollars for the upgrade. However, if you don’t have the game for the PC yet, you have to pay 50 dollars. The weak remaster apparently convinced few new customers to spend the money.
That’s not surprising, after all, the already improved original was offered a few times for less than 20 dollars and even back then it couldn’t convince the people in question to buy it.
PSN compulsion and lack of markets: Another reason is the PSN compulsion caused by the lack of availability ensures that people from many countries, especially in Asia and Africa, cannot buy and play the upgrade. It may also have stopped some people from buying in the other markets.
Most recently, the PC port of Red Dead Redemption caused a sensation. Similar to Horizon: Zero Dawn in 2020, this already comes with numerous improvements and looks like a remaster without being one. This is also rewarded by the players, because on Steam it reached an all-time high of 8,700 players and 92 percent positive reviews.
