Remakes and remasters have become a huge part of gaming recently, with some of the most beloved releases of the past few years being remakes of earlier titles like Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space. Criticism of their prevalence has grown alongside their popularity, and a common rebuttal to those critiques is, “no one is stopping you from just ignoring them and playing the originals.” Well, it turns out sometimes someone is stopping you from playing the originals, and it’s their original publishers. That’s the case with Horizon Zero Dawn, which has suddenly been removed from sale on PC ahead of the game’s impending remaster.
When Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered was announced in September, it was already a bit suspect. The original game was released in 2017, and it still plays and looks fine on both the PS4 and PS5. It was even available through PS Plus for a while, until it was suddenly remove around the first time rumors of the remaster began swirling. I criticized the announcement at the time, on the grounds that a game so recent and so accessible is the worst candidate possible for a remake.
And Sony took an unorthodox route to solving that problem, by making the original no longer accessible for a large number of players. While Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition is still available on PlayStation, it’s no longer being sold on Steam or the Epic Games Store, its page instead including a link to purchase the remastered edition. There’s currently no option to buy just the original game without the remastered upgrade on either storefront, though GOG.com does still have an active listing for the complete edition.
Another recent Sony policy makes the situation even worse. Earlier this year, Helldivers 2 announced that, due to an agreement with Sony, it would begin requiring all PC players to log into the game through PSN accounts, after many had already been enjoying the game without a PSN account up until then. The move prompted widespread outcry from fans, enough that Sony later backtracked, removing the requirement to log in to play the game.
But when it comes to other PlayStation releases on PC, PSN integration is still mandatory. That will also be the case with Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, where it feels particularly egregious. Despite the original game being available on PC for a while now, new players will now be forced to buy the remastered edition if they want to play, and they’ll need to sign in through PSN to do so. The move shows a bizarre insistence by Sony that players of its games on any platform be brought into its network, and means that some players won’t have access to Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered at all. PSN accounts aren’t available in every country, so some fans of the series who want to jump into Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered simply won’t have the option.
In some cases, remakes can become the only viable way to play a game just because the original is no longer supported by current hardware. A remake of Silent Hill 2 releases this week, more than 20 years after the original game. Before the remake, the only way to play Silent Hill 2 on modern consoles was through the Silent Hill HD Collection, which was largely called a downgrade from the original, thanks to some new voice acting and graphical changes that some say altered the tone of the game.
It’s still a shame that the only way to play the original version of this classic horror game is by buying a PlayStation 2 and a working copy, but the situation surrounding Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered feels far more cynical. Technological obsolescence is one thing, but removing a perfectly functional game from sale in order to promote its remastered upgrade speaks to a publisher with no concern for its customers or even its own legacy. Even if fans find the remastered upgrade to be a better experience than the base game, they’re still losing access to a beloved game in its original version. Whatever Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered’s fresh coat of paint adds to the game, Sony’s insistence on burying its own recent history is a step backward for gaming.
