68% of Horizon Forbidden West physical sales are the more expensive PS5 version of the game. That’s despite the PS4 version being sold for $10/£10/€10 less than the PS5 version, even though they both contain the same content. The data on the sales split between both versions comes from the UK. The UK is the first to provide sales data on Horizon Forbidden West.
Sony received strong backlash when it announced the price difference between the Horizon PS4 and PS5 versions. Originally, the price difference was accompanied by a purchasable PS5 upgrade for PS4 owners of the game. The backlash was so severe that Sony reneged on the plan and offered a free PS5 upgrade for PS4 owners of the game. However, the company did not reduce the price of the game on PS5. Even digitally, people who buy the PS4 version of the game for £59.99 in the UK get the free PS5 upgrade. Yet, Sony sells the PS5 version of the game digitally for £69.99. The same difference can also be found at retail.
It may be surprising then to see that nearly 70% of people who purchased physical copies of the game opted for the more expensive PS5 version when they didn’t need to. Although the actual game is the same for PS5 owners no matter which version they purchase, there are some slight differences. One of the stated reasons for purchasing the PS5 version on social media is to get the PS5 box art, complete with the white PS5 strip across the top of the box. Since many gamers who still purchase physical versions of games are collectors, that likely holds more value than the saving for purchasing the PS4 copy.
Another, more practical reason is that the discs in each version are different. The PS5 version contains the PS5 game on the disc, the PS4 version contains the PS4 game on the discs. The free upgrade essentially gives gamers a digital copy of the PS5 game to download. Any gamers who want to preserve their PS5 purchase, which physical gamers often want to do, will need the PS5 version. If/when Sony removes the ability to upgrade the game, the PS5 discs will still have the better version of the game. Given the recent news that Nintendo is taking down the Wii U and 3DS eshops, that might have been at the forefront of many gamers’ minds.
