Sony Unintentionally Put the Biggest Horizon Joke to Rest After 8 Years

The Horizon franchise is one of Sony’s most iconic, but it’s been a long-running joke with fans for quite some time for one specific reason. Both Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West released in the same week as other major video games, which any gamer knows can be killer for sales. As a result, many online have said that Sony tanked Horizon‘s potential by doing so. Despite this, Sony has revealed that the Horizon franchise has reached over 38 million total sales, making it one of Sony’s most successful franchises of all time and ending the joke that Horizon‘s release dates shot the franchise’s chances of success.

Horizon Zero Dawn Lawsuit Reveals the Franchise Is One of Sony’s Biggest-Ticket Items

In the proceedings for Sony’s lawsuit against Tencent for copyright infringement over Tencent’s Light of Motiram, the studio revealed that Horizon has reached 38 million sales worldwide between the two games. Sony doesn’t tend to give live sales updates of its bigger games, so this number being revealed in a lawsuit is a little treat for those people who want to know. These sales numbers put Horizon up with some of Sony’s biggest gaming franchises including Marvel’s Spider Man, Gran Turismo, God of War, and Uncharted.

The Horizon Franchise includes more than just its two mainline games, garnering sales from the spinoff LEGO Horizon Adventures and a remastered version of the first game since its initial sales report of 32.7 million units in April of 2023. That means since then, the various entries in the franchise have earned over 5 million copies sold in just the past two years, an excellent number for a series that hasn’t had a significant release since 2022. These stats have firmly put to rest a long-running joke among Sony fans.

Despite Tricky Release Dates, Horizon Zero Dawn Succeeds

For the longest time, Sony fans have conspired that Sony intentionally shot Horizon in the foot by releasing it at the same time as other industry-shaking titles. Horizon Zero Dawn was released on February 28th, 2017, only five days before The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on March 3rd. Horizon Forbidden West was released on February 18th, 2022, a week before the release of Elden Ring on February 25th. Both of these games won Game of the Year when they came out, and it seemed that Horizon was destined to forever live in their shadow.

However, the numbers revealed in the Tencent lawsuit reveal that this isn’t the case. Despite releasing next to these titans, both main entries into the Horizon franchise have succeeded. They didn’t become viral sensations like Elden Ring or BoTW, but they’re well-known enough to have earned their spot in Astro Bot among other studio greats. Timing the release of a game can be tricky, and despite Sony’s apparent failure to time Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West well, the games have thrived.

Apparently, Timing Isn’t Everything for New Games

Despite industry convention dictating studios avoid one another’s big release windows to avoid competition, it’s clear that games can still succeed despite the competition. Part of this could be due to the overlap, or lack thereof, in potential player base, but HZD and BoTW cater to a very similar open-world RPG-enjoying audience. For its part, Elden Ring fits into this category as well, offering a darker take on the same genre with a much more punishing combat system.

Both games overshadowed the Horizon releases they coincided with, but somehow, Horizon was still able to succeed. This is a testament both to Sony’s support of the game, but also each game’s construction itself. Both Horizon games are clean, well-wrapped experiences that offer something unique in terms of story and conceit, giving those players who enjoyed Elden Ring and BoTW something else to play when they inevitably beat those games.

This isn’t to say it’s a good idea to release a game right when other, directly competing games are coming out as well, but it does lend credence to the idea that release date isn’t everything. No studio wants to compete with another for sales, but it’s an inevitable part of any business. Sony took somewhat of a risk with the Horizon release dates, but those jokes about their lack of foresight have finally been put to rest.

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