In a recent interview with Kinda Funny Games, Shuhei Yoshidaformer president of SIE Worldwide Studios for Sony, reflected on his time at PlayStation and shared his opinion on the sales performance of Forbidden West Horizon. Yoshida, who resigned from his position in 2024, revealed his surprise at the sequel’s sales figures, admitting that they did not meet his expectations.
“The one that surprised me a little bit in terms of the number of units sold was the second Horizon game,” Yoshida said. He expressed confidence in the sequel’s potential, given the success of its predecessor, Horizon Zero Dawn. “Often the second game is better because there are already millions of fans. This was not the case with Forbidden West. The game was bigger and cooler, but I don’t think the second one scored as many points as the first.”
Launched in February 2022, Forbidden West Horizon was developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Set in a post-apocalyptic version of the western United States, the game follows Aloy as she ventures into the Forbidden West to discover the origin of a deadly plague. With its stunning visuals, intricate combat mechanics, and expanded gameplay features such as underwater exploration and new traversal tools, the game was praised as an evolution of the franchise.
Despite selling more 8.4 million units in April 2023 and receiving several award nominations, including game of the year At The game Awards 2022, Forbidden West did not surpass its predecessor in terms of sales.
The game‘s legacy includes the release of the Burning Shores Expansion in April 2023 and the launch of the Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition in October 2023, which included the main game with the expansion for PlayStation 5. In March 2024, Nixxes Software ported the full edition to Windows. A sequel to the series is currently in development, continuing Aloy’s story in this rich post-apocalyptic world.
