460°

Sony Plans 'Horizon Zero Dawn' Program

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is now seeking licensees for its upcoming new video game brand "Horizon Zero Dawn."

The game will be presented to the licensing marketplace for the first time at Brand Licensing Europe next week, in advance of its release in Q4 2016.

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licensemag.com
Abash3790d ago

I have a feeling that Sony is going to make Horizon into a major series for PlayStation

Sitdown3790d ago

Was this ever a question?

_-EDMIX-_3790d ago

Knowing Sony's track record for releasing new series every gen, I think many felt that way when this title was announced.

Can't wait, sounds like a good idea. Studios that go into apparel and other areas do a good job seeking to make as much as they can make from an IP, many of us would love to buy apparel from some of our favorite IPs to show our support and just based on over all fandom!

LOVE The Fallout and Skyrim stuff, also all of Valves stuff is really cool too.

miyamoto3790d ago

This fits perfectly with PS4's campaign to broaden its install base to the casual gamers.

That imminent Holidays 2015 Price Cut will start the ball rolling.

MrSec843790d ago

@Miyamoto: Accept Horizon Zero Dawn isn't what you would call a casual game in the slightest.
Calling this game casual is like calling the Witcher 3, Bloodborne or Phantom Pain a casual game.

A lot of be required of the player to make sure you've got the require equipment for when you stuff up a mission like in the trailer and have to take on a massive armor plated beast like the Thunder Jaw.

There's probably a lot more dangerous creatures than that one and there's also the possibility that you'll need the items and skills to fight more than one at a time.

Horizon is definitely not looking like it's something for the casuals.
I will say that the concept is very appealing though to a large range of gamers, so from a marketing and the merchandising perspective there's a lot of potential in this franchise.

The possibilities for more games is also huge with this game.

MrSec843789d ago

I'm not sure where the writer of this article or anyone else gets the idea that this isn't coming out until Q4 2016, I mean Guerrilla's last 2 games both released only 9 months after they were announced.

Considering how good it's already running it's at least likely to be releasing in the 1st half of 2016, otherwise Sony and Guerrilla wouldn't have bothered announcing it until PSX.

Shinobi602 has been bang on about the details surrounding this game and he said the original intention was for this to be a Fall 2015 release, obviously things got changed, but it's had over 4 years in development already, 2 years of which most of a studio with over 270 people have been working on it.
Obviously RIGS is being made by part of Guerrilla's resources, but Horizon is the major deal.

This is most likely coming in the 1st half of next year.

Irishguy953789d ago

Calling this game casual is like calling "X,Y,Z"

Ehmm No...since no one has played it yet no one can judge it. It could very well be a piss easy casual game

On the other gand it could be an intense challenge.

GG do nice difficulty settings with EASY and HARD so Horizon will probably be okay

ChronoJoe3789d ago

@MRSec84

The difference is that Guerilla's last two games were both existing IPs, with engines and technology already crafted to build those games. This is different, dev time and marketing are liable to take longer. So I think Q3 or Q4 2016 seems more reasonable.

bluefire90163789d ago

What exclusive isn't a series at this point besides Ico and Shadow of the Colossus?

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 3789d ago
3790d ago
lipton1013790d ago ShowReplies(16)
bobtheimpaler3790d ago

I'd like a 1/6 scale aloy figure. And ThreeA to make a dino bot or two.

medman3789d ago

I will buy an Aloy t-shirt and rock it hard, no doubt.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 3789d ago
Relientk773790d ago

Honestly I want mechanical dinosaur action figures lol

-Foxtrot3790d ago

I want this Dinobot

http://www.wallpaperup.com/...

As a garden space heater

Thanks :)

MightyNoX3790d ago

I think you'd get a good TV reception with that thing.

UltraNova3789d ago

Now this makes me want Guerrilla to include super robo-dinos, Shadow of the colossus big!

Think about it for a sec, these super massive dinos can be optional in hard to reach areas just like super hard enemies like dragons (Kalameet, you bastard!) and Black Knights in the Dark Souls series.

rainslacker3789d ago

Drink dispensers from the collector bot things would be fun for the game room.:) You could life the tail, and it comes out of...well...you know.

Aloy-Boyfriend3790d ago (Edited 3790d ago )

I would have a collection of each dinobot in my room.

Relientk773790d ago

Gotta catch em all! Really cool robotic dinosaurs from Horizon!

That's the theme song

Walker3790d ago

Q4 2016 release date, sounds good !

Aloy-Boyfriend3790d ago

Guerrilla games have always been very consistent with their game releases, so you can be at least 80% confident Horizon will come in 2016 like they have stated. Maybe this could be their first delay, but I hope not. O want to play this so bad

Show all comments (60)
180°

PlayStation's Horizon series reportedly surpasses 40m sales

It has been reported that PlayStation's Horizon series, which began in 2017 with Zero Dawn, has now passed 40 million in sales.

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eurogamer.net
95d ago Replies(1)
dveio93d ago

Spread across two main entries of the franchise, it just is a very respectable success, isn't it.

Although I personally didn't click with the Horizon games, I can a) clearly see the appeal of it. From art direction and technical brilliance.

And b) - I am so happy for Guerilla Games that they've created an IP that's finally been giving financial success back to them and SIE.

Joining the company's club of tens of millions of copies being sold like Spiderman, God of War or The Last of Us did.

All "Big Five" studios at Playstation are on par. Which is just great and hopefully just contributes to a healthy work environment between all of them.

Notellin93d ago

This is including the Horizon VR game and also Lego game.

Notellin93d ago (Edited 93d ago )

@Z501 The article clearly states otherwise that it includes all titles in the franchise. Even the link included that information.

The first comment on the ResetEra source link which was translated the first comment even says. "The Power of Lego".

dveio92d ago

Wouldn't you agree that the main portion (>90%) of the Horizon sales are tied to Zero Dawn and Forbidden West?

Or asked differently:

Point us towards the sales of the VR and Lego game combined!

Puty93d ago

Interesting. It wasn't a massive hit on PS. Maybe it did much better on PC?

Miraak82 93d ago

Pretty sure a big contributing factor is that they were bundled with the consoles at some point , I personally got the bundle because it was the only version I could get when there were ps5 shortages . They gave the first one away on ps+ the first couple years for initial ps5 adopters . I tried the 1st game for like 20ish hours , didn't really appeal to me and haven't played the 2nd even though I own it . The VR version was bundled with the headset and lego horizon added to the total to series sales number . Looking with those optics in mind it's hard to account for individual sales , the first game I know was a success but I don't think the 2nd was as successful without the contributing factor I listed above

Redemption-6493d ago

Wow, the copium is strong. The second was successful even when with or without the stupidity you listed. They can actually easily tell how much the game sold, you just don't want to accept facts. A game being on PS plus doesn't count as a sale pea brain.

Also, bundles make up a small % of the sales. COD, FIFA, Red Dead 2, GOW, 2K, Mario Kart and many more all have bundles. I have never seen any of you call their sales into question, yet the second Horizon comes up, well it was bundled. There were millions of systems sold without this game. These systems were always the ones that sold out 1st

The game being this successful seems to really triggered some people a lot.

P_Bomb93d ago

@Red
Don’t ya know? If they don’t like the game, there’s no way anybody else did. Their friend list is more accurate than your friend list. Their conspiracy theory doesn’t answer to shareholders. Feelings > facts.

InUrFoxHole93d ago

@Redemption-64
That has to be one of the most childish responses.. Even for N4G standards. Honestly you both could solve this by posting the numbers breakdown. Console bundles account for a small number? How small? If they account for a good number? Then how much?

Miraak82 93d ago

@InUrFoxHole

LoL It's so easy to trigger people on this site . I tried to list a numbers of factors that could've been cumulative reasons to why it sold well but he and the down voters be getting mad and resort to name calling ... not even worth my time. Obviously if the 1st game sold like 25 mill and the 2nd sold like 15 mil then my point still stands that the second game didn't sell as well by a large margin . Add in bundles and the free giveaways ( with the $10 upgrade to add to the sale factor) and other none main entries ( which the article didn't specify it was only ) could've added to the total.

Even people commenting that they love the series with very minute criticisms the fanboys start crashing out like Sony games are holier then thou even though almost every sequel they've put out perform significantly worse then the originals . I wasn't even really trying to knock it as a series as opposed to just being a little sus about the sales figures but a majority can't handle opinions that aren't their own ... so soft so squishy haha

Redemption-6492d ago

@InUrFoxHole

Just to you and your pathetic ilk. Sony's fiscal year 2021 (FY21) Q4 covered the three months ended March 31, 2022. During this time period they sold around 2M PS5s. Horizon forbidden west released during this quarter. The next quarter was Sony's fiscal year 2022 first quarter (FY22 Q1) ended on June 30, 2022. This period covers the three months from April 1, 2022, to June 30, 2022. They sold around 2.4M PS5s. Before the holiday season, PS5 was averaging around 600K to 800K a month. Hell if memory serves me correctly, they sold around 500-600K PS5s the same month that Horizon forbidden west was released. Keep in mind this is all PS5 sales, from all bundles to stand-alone systems. Same year, Sony also had the GOW and COD PS5 bundles. Also, are we forgetting Horizon forbidden west also released on PS4? Figures suggest the PS4 version was a significant portion of early sales. The PS4 didn't have a bundle of the game. So should we ignore the PS4 with the bigger player base and pretend most the this game sales were on PS5 and due to bundles?

In 2023 when it was announced that Horizon forbidden west has sold around 10M, a smooth brain like @Miraak82 said on Twitter and I quote:
"The point is that out of the ten million sold this year, most were bundles and most were horizon bundles. It’s not hard. Transitive property shows you that if ps5s sell and they come with a game, the game sells. It’s not an argument, that’s what happened."

Christopher Dring, editor-in-chief and co-founder of The game business responded saying: "But 80%+ of Horizon's sales across Europe were not part of a bundle" He is known for his expertise in the video games market, particularly for his analysis of sales and data.

It takes a special breed of stupid to see this game and start screaming it only sold because it was bundled or most of it's sales were from bundles, completely ignore PS4 sales, and other PS5 game bundles

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 92d ago
lukasmain93d ago

What in the rabid hell are you talking about? Both games were a massive success on PS.

Extermin8or3_93d ago

The first sold in the region of 20 million on ps alone. The sequel did less mainly cos sony used it as an experiment with ps plus.

Miraak82 93d ago

They basically gave the first game for free or at bargain bin prices or bundled with every ps4/5 before they jacked up the price again with the ps5 upgrade , most people on my friends list played ZD and of all those people only 1 played FW . I only tried ZD because I was a KZ fan and initial impressions had me curious but once I tried it I was like meh . Without massive marketing and push from Sony I wonder how successful it would have been and how part 3 and the supposed MMo will fair now that people know what to expect

Redemption-6493d ago

@Miraak82

Games on plus do not count as sales. Seriously is this rocket science to a person like you? I get the copium is strong with you, but it's honestly pathetic the mental gymnastics you people come up with. Sony had said putting Horizon Forbidden West on PlayStation Plus caused significant lost sales for them.

Miraak82 93d ago (Edited 93d ago )

Redemption-64
They gave that game away for free , even if you weren't subbed you could still play it as it counted as a purchase , you can't just believe Sony is so honorable and high and mighty that they wouldn't skew the numbers in some form ... so naive .

Redemption-6493d ago

@Miraak82

Sorry, are you stupid of something? Honest question. Since when did something free count as a sale? As a public trade company, you know lying about sales can lead to legal problems right? It is literally illegal for them to lie about the sales of a product and can result in server consequences. So I will ask again, are you really that stupid?

Also the Sony themselves said the games that came with Play at Home initiative are free. Can you please provide us with a link to backup your lies. Please show is all the games giving away were all counted as sales. I'm sure you have insider information to show Sony lied to their shareholders about the sales of their games.

Miraak82 93d ago

Could count as a sale if those people did the $10 upgrade , if I decide to try it out again I would definitely do it and I’m pretty sure a lot of those people did . There’s plenty of ways to prop up sales numbers even counting the lowest of margins lol

Redemption-6492d ago

@Miraak82

Could count as a sale if those people did the $10 upgrade?

Seriously, where the hell are you getting these lies from? Sony themselves literally call it an upgrade. The most they can do is add it to the revenue of the game, not a sale. Can you please provide proof to backup your ignorance? Thanks in advance

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 92d ago
Amphion93d ago

Yup most of the sales are on PC.

Scissorman93d ago

Horizon has sold maybe 5-6 million copies between both games on PC, leaving the remaining 35 million from PlayStation.

rokos93d ago

Both main games launched just before other juggernauts of the industry, that is why they couldn't create a lot of buzz with their releases.
The first game Zero Dawn was released two days prior Breath of the Wild.
The second game Forbidden West was released less than a week prior Elden Ring.

Gamersunite88093d ago

The first one sold 24 million on the PS4. And, Forbidden West sold 10 million. I'm pretty sure that leaves six to eight million for PC. LOL

Pyrofire9592d ago

No it did pretty well on console, especially when factoring the remake of Zero Dawn that nobody asked for. ZD is also one of Playstations more successful PC launches even tho the performance was bad but it was a first for PS releasing on PC so there was a novelty to it.
I don't believe I heard much about Forbidden West aside from it not doing as well on PC as ZD.
Lastly there was the VR game which being one of the few PSVR2 games (and only first party) it probably did alright for PSVR2, and the Lego Horizon game which launched everywhere; and I'm not sure if anyone has played it.

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 92d ago
neutralgamer199293d ago

It's a great series but the 2nd game just went over lard with some nonsense story decisions. Hopefully the 3rd game comes full circle and gives the lone tike fans a great end to the story. 1st game is the best and 2nd is very good. It's the same writer who wrote fallout new Vegas so I have high hopes for a strong finish

CantThinkOfAUsername93d ago

Hopefully they'll make another IP before revisiting Horizon again.

Pyrofire9592d ago

Same, I'd like to see something new from Guerilla, Naughty Dog too for that matter.

lellkay93d ago

Honestly I'm a huge fan of the franchise so i'm glad to see the success. I feel like the games and IP get a lot of unwarranted stick.

Show all comments (53)
170°

Horizon's tribes were very expensive and time consuming to make, artist confirms

Designing and creating Horizon's colorful and exotic tribes was one of the most expensive and time-consuming parts of developing the franchise's origins.

Read Full Story >>
tweaktown.com
jambola123d ago

How does throwing some face paint on a model become expensive and time consuming

lukasmain123d ago

Read the submission and find out

rdgneoz3122d ago

"Creating the tribes was one of the most time-consuming and expensive parts of the Horizon development process. We had to create style manuals for each tribe--ranging from 60 to 200 pages--and make countless artistic choices in designing the tribes' physical traits, attire, accessories, dwellings, etc.

In developing the various tribes, we worked with anthropologists to understand how tribal cultures form. We read literature, talked to experts, listened to presentations, and did significant research to understand how real-world tribes are formed and what creates unique tribal cultures."

They were creating distinct cultures, not just throwing face paint on a nameless NPC that just stands there and whacks a mallet all day.

Kornholic122d ago

It will never not be funny seeing some of the most uncreative people on earth, which in this instance is you, trying to grasp the creative process.

jambola122d ago

I think people making up their own reality based on nothing is even funnier

italiangamer122d ago ShowReplies(1)
F0XH0UND922121d ago

Couldn't be bothered to use critical thinking or read the article for 5 seconds, could you?

jambola121d ago

I don't think you know what critical thinking is
I think you just heard someone else use it

Z501121d ago

You didn't read, did you?

KwietStorm_BLM120d ago

Create something of your own and watch the sky open up.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 120d ago
Krablante122d ago (Edited 122d ago )

Yea, to be honest they sucked. Worst part of the game for me. Forbidden west that is.

122d ago
SimpleDad122d ago

And yet player only runs pass them.

Nacho_Z122d ago

I can appreciate attention to detail but it sounds like they went way overboard tbf.

MIDGETonSTILTS17122d ago

I’m sure they did a wonderful job with the money spent, but nobody wanted that level of investment into fake tribes. I shouldn’t say “nobody”, because I’m sure anthropology majors were thrilled to see the worlds they created.

But, if I were Sony, I wouldn’t forced them to just spend the money on cooler boss battles instead.

The boss battles lacked, and the villages were overlooked by most players; they managed their resources to develop their product like artists would, not strategic business people. I could understand why some people would celebrate that, but I’d stress the importance of managing multimillion dollar projects with longevity of the studio as the TOP priority. That’s how you get to make more games, instead of be shuttered after one bad launch.

tombfan122d ago

did... did you saw the ultra gigantic boss fight? Also, Forbidden West had amazing fights. Almost every machine is their own boss fight.

MIDGETonSTILTS17122d ago (Edited 122d ago )

The ultra giant boss fight sucked. I’m an OG God of War fan, so I compare giant boss battles to what they achieved on the ps3. The final DLC boss was shallow and repetitive, and hardly leveraged the immense scale at play. When the enemy is the size of hand on the screen, it doesn’t matter how big it actually is… you’re just too far away for it to be “cool”.

I was not impressed by a single boss fight. Every machine was fun to fight, but they are not bosses. I’m talking about fights with a Boss Health Bar, and everyone of FW’s bosses were a chore.

Maybe I’m forgetting one, but I’m pretty sure even the end boss from the DLC pales in comparison to what GoW achieved on inferior hardware generations ago.

lukasmain121d ago

I'm a God Of War fan too, but hte boss fights in Horizon were AWESOME. I played at the highest difficulty if that matters, but I loved BOTH of the Horizon games. They're extremely successful and metacritic is high as well. Looks like you're in a small minority

MIDGETonSTILTS17121d ago (Edited 121d ago )

I played both games on the hardest difficulty as well. And, I beat GoW3 on Chaos, even though it wasn’t needed for the Plat trophy.

Which boss fight did you enjoy? Please note I only consider it a boss if there’s a giant health bar.

Armyofdarkness122d ago (Edited 122d ago )

Horrible designs on all things except the dinos. Some of the getups are really funny tho

jambola121d ago

"I've noticed you have something negative to say about horizon, are you a trolley perhaps?"

Some of them looked straight out of a pokemon xxxx spoof

F0XH0UND922113d ago

@jam

I'm assuming you say the same thing about indigenous cultures and the stuff they wear.

Just tell people you're a bigot next time. It's a lot less words, my boy.

Show all comments (28)
150°

Sony Calls Tencent’s Defense "Nonsense" in New Lawsuit Filing

Sony has fired back at Tencent in court, calling its defense "nonsense" and accusing it of hiding behind shell companies to dodge accountability over Light of Motiram, a game Sony says blatantly copies Horizon.

Read Full Story >>
thegamepost.com
VenomUK126d ago

What's interesting is that in another story it turns out Sony WAS in contact with Tencent and visited the Chinese company to discuss creating a Last of Us spin-off!

https://www.pushsquare.com/...

jznrpg126d ago (Edited 126d ago )

Damn double posting

AceR1mmer126d ago

While you are on this Sony, get someone to sort out the shovelware issue we have now on ps. You too Nintendo

jambola126d ago

They can also maybe learn how to sort from newest to oldest, maybe bring the store up to the standards of 1997

Miraak82 126d ago

My problem with how it is now is all the preorder clutter when you do Newest to Oldest , you can sort it by just released and coming soon but then you only get the new releases for the past month .

Christopher122d ago

This is very possible to do.

KwietStorm_BLM126d ago

The fact that tencent is even defending it is more hilarious than the ripoff in the first place, because they know damn well.

Christopher126d ago

They have more than enough money to waste and, if they win, it means they can just continue to do this sort of thing.

PapaBop125d ago

Stealing other people's work, infringing on copyright material is so rampant in China in both game development and so many other sectors that Tencent probably really believe they've done nothing wrong.

Abear21126d ago

Eh, pretty sure I remember a futuristic bow in Turok? Sony/Horizon going after whatever game that is seems petty

Shimsok125d ago

The thing is this COSMETICALLY can be mistaken be mistaken for the Horizon games. Games like Dante's Inferno were not exact replicas of God of War in the same way Light of Motiram just looks identical to Horizon. It's uncanny.

BlaqMagiq1125d ago

Were there also mechanical dinosaurs everywhere in Turok?

Show all comments (17)