Nearly 50% of Horizon: Forbidden West sales were digital | UK Digital Charts

jroc74 · Feb 25, 2022

The digital future is upon us.

Granted I went all digital in 2013, 2015.

digitalrelic said:
Sounds to me like making the game cross-gen was a mistake then.

Keep seeing this sentiment...but if it was already planned to be cross gen, why not just continue that path for the game? If it wasnt and they decided later...well...I dont know what to say.

GT7 is an interesting case. Because it seemed like they changed their minds at the last minute for that.

digitalrelic said:
There's obviously a substantial work hour and capital investment on creating several different SKUs of the game. It costs Sony a ton of money to develop several versions of their game on multiple platforms.

Not to mention the impact on marketing and consumer interest when a game is announced as crossgen. From a game design & marketing perspective you're going to have to build a game that's potentially held back by 10 year old hardware. And we all remember the backlash this game (and other first part PS titles) got when they announced that it was cross-gen & not exclusively built for PS5 hardware. Those optics affect consumer interest and potential sales.

Well...according to this thread topic, it didn't affect anything...

We can all want and hope cross gen ends sooner, but as for this topic, this games' sales didnt suffer. Miles Morales sales didnt suffer, despite the PS5 version constantly being on the PSN charts vs the PS4 version showing up here n there.

That said...I too cant wait for cross gen to end tho.

yhgtu said:
Any potential sales lost are vastly outweighed by the PS4 sales.

The notion that the average consumer who was excited for this game Didn't buy this game (in the millions) because it was cross-gen, out of disappointment is such a era-bubble take it's hard to start.

That's like saying people will not buy Elden Ring, Halo, or Forza Horizon for that reason. Sure, people may be disappointed but there is zero evidence it has hurt sales, especially not pre launch enthusiasm for this game or God of War, which consistently rank high in consumer excitement.

And they probably have already remade all the costs for the PS4 version (as marking was spread with the PS5 game costs and probably added nothing). (And guess what, this game started on PS4 in development).

The only people who remember the "backlash" are the people who were holding on to their resentment in hopes that that could then turn around at launch and say, "people definitely care about this thing that has not affected any Sony or 3rd party game, because I want Sony to win arbitrary points on hardcore enthusiast bubbles".

Elden Ring will sell fine, Miles Morales has sold amazing, this games sales are great. Your argument is omitting the reality that there are not enough consoles out there for consumers to purchase this how they want. 20 million PS5's can't possibly match the sales at the current splits. The $10 price increase was genius.

Thank you.

digitalrelic · Feb 25, 2022

yhgtu said:
Any potential sales lost are vastly outweighed by the PS4 sales.

The notion that the average consumer who was excited for this game Didn't buy this game (in the millions) because it was cross-gen, out of disappointment is such a era-bubble take it's hard to start.

That's like saying people will not buy Elden Ring, Halo, or Forza Horizon for that reason. Sure, people may be disappointed but there is zero evidence it has hurt sales, especially not pre launch enthusiasm for this game or God of War, which consistently rank high in consumer excitement.

And they probably have already remade all the costs for the PS4 version (as marking was spread with the PS5 game costs and probably added nothing).

The only people who remember the "backlash" are the people who were holding on to their resentment in hopes that that could then turn around at launch and say "people definitely care about this thing that has not affected any Sony or 3rd party game, because I want Sony to win arbitrary point on hardcore enthusiast bubbles".

Elden Ring will sell fine, Miles Morales has sold amazing, this games sales are great. Your argument is omitting the reality that there are not enough consoles out there for consumers to purchase this how they want. 20 million PS5's can't possibly match the sales at the current splits. The $10 price increase was genius.

It's odd that on one hand, people here are stating that sales numbers are down because consumers are waiting to play the PS5 version, but on the other hand, people are stating that "it's such an Era bubble to believe that people care about cross-gen".

If the majority of consumers didn't care about cross-gen, then you'd think the majority of consumers wouldn't care to wait for the PS5 version of a game they want to play and would instead just buy it for their PS4.

And you're right, sales for Miles Morales were fantastic. So it really makes me wonder further why sales would be down on this title if not for crossgen. Is it just general lack of interest in the franchise? Bad timing releasing right before Elden Ring? Less interest because of the $70 price point?

I really don't know. I'm just speculating/trying to figure out why sales would be down on, as you said yourself, a title that was supposed to have very high consumer excitement/pre launch enthusiasm.

digitalrelic · Feb 25, 2022

jroc74 said:
Well...according to this thread topic, it didn't affect anything...

We can all want and hope cross gen ends sooner, but as for this topic, this games' sales didnt suffer.

But sales appear to be down compared to the first game? How does that add up?

Magic Mushroom · Feb 25, 2022

Caio Loco said:
Disappointing sales from Horizon. Expected much more. Curious to see the numbers on the rest of the world.

What did you expect then? It's tracking ahead of ZD on a supply constrained console. Analyst even calls it a good result.

digitalrelic said:
But sales appear to be down compared to the first game? How does that add up?

They're not. ZD had 5 days of tracking compared to just 3 for FW.

Disco Infernal · Feb 25, 2022

digitalrelic said:
But sales appear to be down compared to the first game? How does that add up?

Correct. Sales are suffering, but at least as far as Sony is concerned it's not because people don't want the game. They just don't want it on old hardware and are willing to buy a brand new console to play it in the future.

Kromeo · Feb 25, 2022

I really thought this would outsell the first game by a decent chunk considering the amount of hype there seemed to be and the amount of marketing Sony was doing. The UK economy being in the toilet probably hasn't helped

NediarPT88 · Feb 25, 2022

Looking at the PS4/PS5 split sales would be obviously higher than HZD if there were more PS5 available. It is what it is.

I'm playing on base PS4 and I don't blame people for waiting until they get a PS5, this game can be rather rough in terms of pop-in, lighting issues and image quality.

yhgtu · Feb 25, 2022

digitalrelic said:
It's odd that on one hand, people here are stating that sales numbers are down because consumers are waiting to play the PS5 version, but on the other hand, people are stating that "it's such an Era bubble to believe that people care about cross-gen".

If the majority of consumers didn't care about cross-gen, then you'd think the majority of consumers wouldn't care to wait for the PS5 version of a game they want to play and would instead just buy it for their PS4.

And you're right, sales for Miles Morales were fantastic. So it really makes me wonder further why sales would be down on this title if not for crossgen. Is it just general lack of interest in the franchise? Bad timing releasing right before Elden Ring? Less interest because of the $70 price point?

I really don't know. I'm just speculating/trying to figure out why sales would be down on, as you said yourself, a title that was supposed to have very high consumer excitement/pre launch enthusiasm.

People care about cross-gen in the fact that they will wait for the PS5 version. However, there's no evidence it is harming enthusiasm for games, therefore leading to lower sales.

Sony can get some sales they otherwise wouldn't, as "low"as they might be (who would buy on the PS4 for most of these games if not for lacking a PS5), while also losing out on pretty much no PS5 sales.

And this is why sales are down, people don't want this on PS4, and pretty much everyone who wants this on PS5 will. Every-time a new PS5 drop happens, Miles Morales top the chart, yet most of those people had a PS4 before getting the PS5. People want these games on the new system, it's really that simple.

If I had a PS4 still and was waiting for a PS5, I wouldn't have bought any Sony 1st party game since Ghost of Tsushima.

TooBusyLookinGud · Feb 25, 2022

Loudninja said:
Posted by Uzupedro

Nearly 50% of Horizon: Forbidden West sales were digital | UK Digital Charts

Horizon: Forbidden West beat out FIFA 22 and Total War: Warhammer 3 as the most downloaded game in the UK last week.The…

www.gamesindustry.biz

But it released on PS4 and PS5 with many more systems sold than the first Horizon. How's that good to be down 7%?

MrPink · Feb 25, 2022

Yeah the main question is how the tail is going to look. When new PS5 drops happen, are a bunch of people gonna pick up Horizon or will Miles Morales remain the favorite pick. Or will people just do both?

In the end, I expect Forbidden West to have a very good result, but the first already sold 20 million, which seems to be a pretty general ceiling for Sony titles, I wouldn't expect FW to really pass it, but if it matches it, Sony has nothing to really complain about.

GlamPrime · Feb 25, 2022

I was thinking 30% or there abouts. 50% seems almost excessive lol

TooBusyLookinGud · Feb 25, 2022

MrPink said:
Yeah the main question is how the tail is going to look. When new PS5 drops happen, are a bunch of people gonna pick up Horizon or will Miles Morales remain the favorite pick. Or will people just do both?

In the end, I expect Forbidden West to have a very good result, but the first already sold 20 million, which seems to be a pretty general ceiling for Sony titles, I wouldn't expect FW to really pass it, but if it matches it, Sony has nothing to really complain about.

It'll keep selling no doubt.

AHA-Lambda · Feb 25, 2022

So slightly down on ZD but a smaller launch window, so pretty much flat then. Little surprised thought it would be up overall

ghostcrew said:
God, imagine what the digital split is going to be by the end of this gen. Physical games are going the way of the CD album and the DVD.

Urgh don't remind me

Can't really speak for Japan but over here I'm not surprised that the digital ratio fell way short of the at least one 80:20 ratio I saw in the other thread here on Monday-

Were folk seriously predicting 80% digital? Come on.

Deleted member 30077 · Feb 25, 2022

Magic Mushroom said:
What did you expect then? It's tracking ahead of ZD on a supply constrained console. Analyst even calls it a good result.

This reads like it's tracking ahead on the PS5 alone. It's tracking ahead overall, right? Including the PS4 version?

Magic Mushroom · Feb 25, 2022

napata said:
This reads like it's tracking ahead on the PS5 alone. It's tracking ahead overall, right? Including the PS4 version?

Yeah, overall.

yhgtu · Feb 25, 2022

DumpsterJuice said:
But it released on PS4 and PS5 with many more systems sold than the first Horizon. How's that good to be down 7%?

Because PS4 sales are no longer good and combining both numbers are unhelpful in determining potential consumer bases. PS5 sales outpace PS4 sales, despite having less than 1/5th the audience. What does that say?

Consumer demand for these games are at the PS5 level, PS4 consumers do not want this.

If we just take the PS4 sales of this game, assuming an 80% install base of users still using them (since PS5 has sold about 20 million units and PS4 sold 100 million, meaning 20 million have moved on), this game would be one of the biggest flops of all time. Selling only around 25-30% of the original games sales.

Sony's first party sales potential goes wherever the current PS5 numbers are.

JuanLatino · Feb 25, 2022

digitalrelic said:
There's obviously a substantial work hour and capital investment on creating several different SKUs of the game. It costs Sony a ton of money to develop several versions of their game on multiple platforms.

Not to mention the impact on marketing and consumer interest when a game is announced as crossgen. From a game design & marketing perspective you're going to have to build a game that's potentially held back by 10 year old hardware. And we all remember the backlash this game (and other first part PS titles) got when they announced that it was cross-gen & not exclusively built for PS5 hardware. Those optics affect consumer interest and potential sales.

For the record I bought it and I'm really enjoying it on my PS5. But I also won't ignore the potential shortcomings here.

the game was designed and developed for the ps4 console from the start. Did you expect them to ditch that work and make it PS5 exclusive just for the sake of it?

and all of those points regarding consumer interest is a made up era bubble.

GlamPrime · Feb 25, 2022

digitalrelic said:
There's obviously a substantial work hour and capital investment on creating several different SKUs of the game. It costs Sony a ton of money to develop several versions of their game on multiple platforms.

Not to mention the impact on marketing and consumer interest when a game is announced as crossgen. From a game design & marketing perspective you're going to have to build a game that's potentially held back by 10 year old hardware. And we all remember the backlash this game (and other first part PS titles) got when they announced that it was cross-gen & not exclusively built for PS5 hardware. Those optics affect consumer interest and potential sales.

The backlash you're referring to. I've never seen it outside of hardcore gaming circles such as era. Perhaps I've missed it but here in Europe it doesn't seem to be a thing.

Raijinto · Feb 25, 2022

AHA-Lambda said:
So slightly down on ZD but a smaller launch window, so pretty much flat then. Little surprised thought it would be up overall

Urgh don't remind me

Were folk seriously predicting 80% digital? Come on.

I mean yeah I don't know what to tell you. What I said is true, and from what I remember it was on the first page and no one sought to point out that that was absurd.

GamingCJ · Feb 25, 2022

AHA-Lambda said:
So slightly down on ZD but a smaller launch window, so pretty much flat then. Little surprised thought it would be up overall

It's 7% down with a 40% smaller launch window. It's up compared to HZD, the game is not as front loaded as a JRPG.

FallenGrace · Feb 25, 2022

digitalrelic said:
Not to mention the impact on marketing and consumer interest when a game is announced as crossgen.

I think you hugely overestimate how many consumers actually care about that.

Edit: I should clarify. Consumers don't care a game has been made crossgen, that doesn't mean they don't want to play the PS5 version.

Shock32 · Feb 25, 2022

digitalrelic said:
It's odd that on one hand, people here are stating that sales numbers are down because consumers are waiting to play the PS5 version, but on the other hand, people are stating that "it's such an Era bubble to believe that people care about cross-gen".

If the majority of consumers didn't care about cross-gen, then you'd think the majority of consumers wouldn't care to wait for the PS5 version of a game they want to play and would instead just buy it for their PS4.

And you're right, sales for Miles Morales were fantastic. So it really makes me wonder further why sales would be down on this title if not for crossgen. Is it just general lack of interest in the franchise? Bad timing releasing right before Elden Ring? Less interest because of the $70 price point?

I really don't know. I'm just speculating/trying to figure out why sales would be down on, as you said yourself, a title that was supposed to have very high consumer excitement/pre launch enthusiasm.

Sales aren't down. It's tracking higher due to a smaller launch window.

Madmackem · Feb 25, 2022

Malcolm9 said:
Just wait for the digital price to drop / go on sale. I'm in no rush to pay £69.99.

I've got fomo it's why I've bought elden ring despite not liking souls games haha. Be a long wait for this to drop digital on the store.

kimbo99 · Feb 25, 2022

It's likely going to be an evergreen with long legs. It'll go in and out of the top 5 dependent on the PS5 stock for that week.

ResetEraIsTheBestEra · Feb 25, 2022

St. Elmo's Fire said:

man, a lot of fellow players still havent given up on getting a PS5 huh

i already did for quite some time and im just buying all the games i can play on my PRO lol

Tygre · Feb 25, 2022

Lots of spin and fudge factors you can swirl around this, but it seems like a pretty disappointing result to me.

Zero Dawn was a best seller, the biggest new IP on PS4, had the biggest launch day since UC4, and had huuuuuuuge legs. It started big and got massive, well over 20 million sales by now.

For Forbidden West to open lower, and be barely tracking ahead of the original... hard to see that as a success.

Loudninja · Feb 25, 2022

Tygre said:
Lots of spin and fudge factors you can swirl around this, but it seems like a pretty disappointing result to me.

Zero Dawn was a best seller, the biggest new IP on PS4, had the biggest launch day since UC4, and had huuuuuuuge legs. It started big and got massive, well over 20 million sales by now.

For Forbidden West to open lower, and be barely tracking ahead of the original... hard to see that as a success.

Facts are not spin but ok?

Diarrhea Day-Lewis · Feb 25, 2022

That's great. I do think 50-60ish% may be the ceiling for digital sales on consoles, even tho everyone thinks it will eventually be 100%.

Especially for horizon, you could save $20 on PS5 version day 1 in the us by buying at Walmart or price matching Walmart and then getting the free upgrade.

Kill3r7 · Feb 25, 2022

bonesawisready5 said:
That's great. I do think 50-60ish% may be the ceiling for digital sales on consoles, even tho everyone thinks it will eventually be 100%.

Especially for horizon, you could save $20 on PS5 version day 1 in the us by buying at Walmart or price matching Walmart and then getting the free upgrade.

COD on Xbox hit like 80%. I would be surprised if we don't hit 70/30 split by the end of this gen.

Deleted member 91227 · Feb 25, 2022

Kill3r7 said:
COD on Xbox hit like 80%. I would be surprised if we don't hit 70/30 split by the end of this gen.

Yeah, physical media isn't going anywhere, but the digital split will keep increasing.

Even me, who likes to buy one and done games (most of what I play) physically to resell after I'm done, I'm going digital more often as that's becoming less worth it. As more people go digital it seems like eBay auctions are closing lower than I was getting in the past for a lot of games. Add in increased fees and it's often just not worth the hassle vs. just waiting for a sale on a digital version. With exceptions of things like Nintendo games that hold value better, or things I want to play day one to avoid spoilers and will beat and sell while value is still decent anyway.

nextgeneration · Feb 25, 2022

We'll have a better, overall and fuller picture once we see the NPD results. I went and looked back at NPD from 2017 (when Zero Dawn released), and I see that Zero Dawn charted on NPD top 20 for 4 months in a row (March through June). Let's see how Forbidden West performs on NPD over the upcoming months.

MayorSquirtle · Feb 25, 2022

Tygre said:
Lots of spin and fudge factors you can swirl around this, but it seems like a pretty disappointing result to me.

Zero Dawn was a best seller, the biggest new IP on PS4, had the biggest launch day since UC4, and had huuuuuuuge legs. It started big and got massive, well over 20 million sales by now.

For Forbidden West to open lower, and be barely tracking ahead of the original... hard to see that as a success.

You say yourself it's tracking ahead of a game that was a massive success and somehow it's not a success?

cyrribrae · Feb 25, 2022

It seems that even with digital factored in, about the same percentage of people paid extra money for the PS5 version, when they could have bought the PS4 version. So, that means the percentage of people actually buying with the purpose of playing on PS5 is even higher. Their silence on the free upgrade worked, I suppose.

Curious to see if HFW has the same legs as Miles Morales - one of the stickiest modern games, almost on par with some of the Nintendo games? I wonder. I don't think it's unreasonable to think that Sony may have preferred to have sold more on day 1. Surely the peak was on that day, not on the following Tuesday. But at the very least it would suggest that a higher proportion of PS5 owners bought this than PS4 owners bought HZD. For whatever that's worth (probably not actually that interesting of a stat).

lmcfigs · Feb 25, 2022

Kromeo said:
I really thought this would outsell the first game by a decent chunk considering the amount of hype there seemed to be and the amount of marketing Sony was doing. The UK economy being in the toilet probably hasn't helped

yes, its very easy to get sucked into the hype machine on era

Antony · Feb 25, 2022

Sony have pushed Aloy hard these last couple of years and with this being cross-platform I was expecting some huge numbers…

Still hard to tell whether £70 per game has actually been a 'success' but it hasn't drastically changed anything. People always said the U.K. was extremely price conscious but it's really not.

AHA-Lambda · Feb 25, 2022

Antony said:
People always said the U.K. was extremely price conscious but it's really not.

Yeah I think this myth has been well busted for a while now, particularly given the high digital splits

Shoot · Feb 25, 2022

We will know if Sony is happy with the sales based on if they announce any numbers.

mcruz79 · Feb 25, 2022

lost7 said:
It's likely there's a lot of PS4 players who will only play the game on PS5. We've seen the same with Miles Morales, so I expect the game to show some good legs.

If you add to that, fewer days in the market and the higher price on PS5, I'm pretty sure it's been an excellent launch for the game

I honestly hope that this game has a absolutely massive success financially.
Theres just so much love and care in this game.
Guerrilla really deserves the huge success.

Kill3r7 · Feb 25, 2022

Shoot said:
We will know if Sony is happy with the sales based on if they announce any numbers.

The sales numbers seem fine. HFW launched at the start of a gen in a console constrained market vs HZD launching in 2017 which was 3+ years in the lifespan of PS4. It will hopefully have legs and continue to sell years down the road.

Vito · Feb 25, 2022

I genuinely wonder if PS6 will even have discs.

Switch 2 is probably the last console with physical media.

shadowsdarknes · Feb 25, 2022

JaredG said:
You say yourself it's tracking ahead of a game that was a massive success and somehow it's not a success?

Sounds like that poster is the one spinning.

Rick44-4 · Feb 25, 2022

digitalrelic said:
Sounds to me like making the game cross-gen was a mistake then.

No not really, the ps4 version existing makes no difference to the PS5 version because this is a ps4 game upgraded for ps5.

Hitcher · Feb 25, 2022

67% of Horizon: Forbidden West's download sales were for the PS5 version of the game.

That's a lot of people getting ripped off by paying more for the same thing as the PS4 download!

Deleted member 49482 · Feb 25, 2022

ghostcrew said:
God, imagine what the digital split is going to be by the end of this gen. Physical games are going the way of the CD album and the DVD.

It'll be very interesting what the future holds. Personally, I was predicting the absolute earliest Sony would release a digital-only system would be mid-gen. The fact that they released a Digital Edition PS5 at launch makes me wonder what their next moves will be to trojan horse people into a digital-only ecosystem.

Tigerfan2019 · Feb 25, 2022

Rick44-4 said:
No not really, the ps4 version existing makes no difference to the PS5 version because this is a ps4 game upgraded for ps5.

So true PS5 users get no benefit from Sony scraping the PS4 version we would still be getting the same game. Unless your willing to wait until 2023 or 2024 for this game to take more advantage of the PS5.

Agent Icebeezy · Feb 25, 2022

I think that the future will tell what we can make of this franchise as far as hierarchy in the pantheon of Sony franchises and its sales. As a game, it's my second favorite Sony first party franchise. I'm still not sold that the masses truly love this franchise like that. I'm of the belief currently that the true evergreens Sony has are Spiderman and God of War. Sony having premium pricing this gen means that these games won't race to the bottom price wise. Ratchet and Clank on PS4 came out at 39.99 and was 19.99 in a year plus bundles. Rift Apart still hasn't gone below 50 here in the states. Horizon Zero Dawn is the most aggressively bundled game Sony had last gen. Sony has no need to bundle this gen thus far, far more demanding than supply so zero incentive to value add.

jroc74 · Feb 25, 2022

Tygre said:
Lots of spin and fudge factors you can swirl around this, but it seems like a pretty disappointing result to me.

Zero Dawn was a best seller, the biggest new IP on PS4, had the biggest launch day since UC4, and had huuuuuuuge legs. It started big and got massive, well over 20 million sales by now.

For Forbidden West to open lower, and be barely tracking ahead of the original... hard to see that as a success.

The irony in this post is amazing.....

Fafalada · Feb 25, 2022

bonesawisready5 said:
That's great. I do think 50-60ish% may be the ceiling for digital sales on consoles

It's not.
PS hit 65% digital share in FY20, and has been averaging 10% growth YoY for 4 years straight now.

yhgtu · Feb 25, 2022

Antony said:
Sony have pushed Aloy hard these last couple of years and with this being cross-platform I was expecting some huge numbers…

Still hard to tell whether £70 per game has actually been a 'success' but it hasn't drastically changed anything. People always said the U.K. was extremely price conscious but it's really not.

If the PS5 was at 40 million units you would have seen crazy numbers. There aren't enough consoles that people want to play this game on (PS5).

Diarrhea Day-Lewis · Feb 25, 2022

Fafalada said:
It's not.
PS hit 65% digital share in FY20, and has been averaging 10% growth YoY for 4 years straight now.

Well I may be proven wrong, I just can't see consumers giving up rights with physical games. I'd love to see data on the ppl who buy games like this digital, but how many physical games (especially used) do they also buy since they have the option of both? That would be hard since non new sales aren't tracked, and even if GameStop offered data it wouldn't represent everyone.

Nearly 50% of Horizon: Forbidden West sales were digital | UK Digital Charts

Weight Loss Champion 2018: Biggest Change

Weight Loss Champion 2018: Biggest Change

Graphics Engineer

Graphics Engineer

Cerny’s little helper

self-requested ban

Deleted member 91227

Chicken Chaser

One Winged Slayer - Formerly Undead Fantasy

User requested account closure