Open-world games have become this generation's defining feature, but as the genre has proliferated many developers have fallen into the same generic design patterns. The question of open-world fatigue is in the back of many industry and community minds. A writer for Middle of Nowhere Gaming believes that the recent releases of Horizon: Zero Dawn and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild put this question to rest and paint a promising picture for the future of open-world gaming.
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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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.
@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".
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!
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
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.
@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.
@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?
@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
@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
What in the rabid hell are you talking about? Both games were a massive success on PS.
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.
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
@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.
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 .
@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.
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
@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
Horizon has sold maybe 5-6 million copies between both games on PC, leaving the remaining 35 million from PlayStation.
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.
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
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.
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
Same, I'd like to see something new from Guerilla, Naughty Dog too for that matter.
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.
Fans and collectors should love this news as it looks great.
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.
"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.
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.
Couldn't be bothered to use critical thinking or read the article for 5 seconds, could you?
I don't think you know what critical thinking is
I think you just heard someone else use it
Yea, to be honest they sucked. Worst part of the game for me. Forbidden west that is.
I can appreciate attention to detail but it sounds like they went way overboard tbf.
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.
did... did you saw the ultra gigantic boss fight? Also, Forbidden West had amazing fights. Almost every machine is their own boss fight.
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.
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
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.
Horrible designs on all things except the dinos. Some of the getups are really funny tho
"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
@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.
People are tired of the sheer volume of open-world games, not necessarily the content of them. There are other genres out there, but major devs have some kind of hard on for huge maps with generic content.
Open world fatigue is due to Ubisoft dishing out one after the other mediocre open world/sandbox game one after the other. Remove Ubsioft games and in the last 10 years, I am pretty sure 20 open world games will simply be removed.
I really don't get how gamers can say they're bored of open worlds in games, it's just a type of canvas for developers to work within. Devs should use the types of game worlds that suit their vision.
I guess it's more a case of how some developers have used the game style and content variety that they're really fatiguing on.
Both Horizon and Zelda are quality open world games.