The mixed Steam reviews of Horizon: Zero Dawn Remastered are only trumped by the disastrous player numbers.
After Sony recently attracted attention due to controversial decisions regarding a PSN ban on Steam and Epic, the publisher is now once again making negative headlines.
The recently released remaster of Horizon: Zero Dawn has turned out to be a real flop. While the Steam reviews are at least still balanced , the player numbers can be classified as catastrophic
The original wins the battle for players
Horizon: Zero Dawn Remastered was released on Steam on October 31, 2024, and just three days later, the platform was already recording only 2,383 concurrent players; the all-time high was on the day of release, with a meager 2,538 users.
These are alarming numbers for a new release. Especially since the first PC port of 2020 still has better player numbers even four years after release. On November 3, the original had 2,872 players, almost 500 more than the new version.
The situation is similar for the ratings: While the remaster is penalized with only 63 percent positive ratings, the original scores with 76 percent The new edition has been criticized for various aspects, such as a lack of improvements, new bugs and the requirement to create a PSN account.
The difference becomes even more serious on closer inspection. Overall, the original stands at 87 percent, but there has been a drop in recent days as some users complain about the PSN requirement for the upgrade. So negative reviews of the remaster have spilled over.
Why are the player numbers so low?
Few improvements and a short time gap: When Horizon Zero: Dawn of 2020 was ported to PC, the version already received numerous improvements compared to the 2017 PS4 version. Since the technological leaps have been limited since then, the progress here is also relatively small. Buyers are thus not given a sufficient incentive to play the game again just four years after the first release.
High price: For the upgrade, buyers of the original are asked to pay ten euros. However, those who don’t yet own the game for PC have to pay as much as 50 euros. The weak remaster has apparently convinced few new customers to spend the money.
This is not surprising, after all, the already improved original was offered a few times for less than 20 euros and could not persuade the people concerned to buy it even then.
PSN-Zwang und fehlende Märkte: Ein weiterer Grund ist der PSN-Zwang, der durch die fehlende Verfügbarkeit dafür sorgt, dass besonders im asiatischen und afrikanischen Raum Personen aus vielen Ländern das Upgrade nicht kaufen und spielen können. It may also have deterred some people from buying the game in other markets.
Most recently, the PC version of Red Dead Redemption caused a stir. Similar to Horizon: Zero Dawn in 2020, this version comes with numerous improvements and looks like a remaster without actually being one. Players have also rewarded this, as it reached an all-time high of 8,700 players on Steam, along with 92 percent positive reviews.
