Horizon Forbidden West’s Steam Release Clocks Lesser Players Than Zero Dawn

Horizon Forbidden West arrived on Steam yesterday to very positive reviews and a surprisingly quiet reception with fewer than expected players purchasing the game. According to data shared by SteamDB, the game hit an early peak of 25,258 players, less than half of its predecessor, Horizon Zero Dawn.

More shockingly, Forbidden West was barely behind Days Gone, with 27,450. On the brighter side, Forbidden West still managed to beat Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves, which had 10,851 simultaneous players at launch, which still makes it a decent success, albeit a minor one. 

Horizon Forbidden West Stands As A Top-Tier PlayStation Title

At its initial launch on the PlayStation 5, Horizon Forbidden West had done fairly well in Japan. The sequel was the 3rd most sold game in the week spanning the month of February. The game sold around 50,000 units in its first week solely in Japan. This goes to show that the initial hype and demand for the sequel were apparent, but releasing without much advertising wasn’t the best way to re-release the game on another platform.

One thing to note is that this is just the early numbers for the game, the numbers are sure to rise as the weekend crosses and the news of its release starts to spread. But seeing the early results for the game, as well as many other PS5 exclusives performing on PC, Sony needs to revamp their overall strategy in order to make Steam releases more viable and profitable.

Forbidden West is a solid experience gameplay-wise, the game is beautiful, meticulously detailed, and fairly enjoyable. Although obvious story differences weaken its overall effect, the game is still loved by many fans worldwide, which is why seeing its performance so low on PC was a shock to the entire community.

Horizon Forbidden West is the second iteration of the franchise and is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC. Huzaifa from eXputer gave the game a 4/5 and highlighted the extensive combat and graphical fidelity, although he did dislike the bloated NPC dialogue interferences, and the forgettable side quests, as well as issues with the main story.