Horizon Forbidden West won’t have an upgrade path from PS4 to PS5

Horizon Forbidden West, the sequel to the much-beloved Horizon Zero Dawn, is now available for preorder ahead of the game’s newly announced February 18th, 2022, release date for both PS4 and PS5. But if you’re planning to play the game on PS4 and eventually try it on PS5, there’s no way to get a cross-gen upgrade.

Instead, you’ll have to buy the more expensive versions of the game that offer digital copies for both the PS4 and PS5 or start with PS4 and buy an entirely new PS5 copy of the game later at its full price. And you shouldn’t expect some kind of upgrade to be introduced down the line, as Sony says it has “no plans” for that kind of offer, even though you can transfer your save data from the PS4 to PS5 versions of the game.

To get both the PS4 and PS5 digital versions of Horizon Forbidden West in a single package, you have to buy the spendier $79.99 Digital Deluxe Edition, the $199.99 Collector’s Edition, or the $259.99 Regalla Edition. By contrast, the Standard Edition will cost $59.99 on PS4 and $69.99 on PS5. There’s also a Special Edition for PS4 that costs $69.99, which offers a digital soundtrack, a “mini art book,” and comes in a steelcase box. (There’s a separate PS5 version of that edition, too.)

Sony has shown a willingness to offer upgrade paths with some of its other titles. The company allows players to pay to upgrade from the PS4 to the PS5 version of Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut and from the PS4 version of Death Stranding to the PS5-exclusive Death Stranding: Director’s Cut. Sony has also released free patches optimizing PS4 games for PS5, like it did for God of War and, just last week, Horizon Zero Dawn. But in the case of Horizon Forbidden West, there’s no option for a cross-gen upgrade at all. Sony’s asking you to pay at least $20 extra upfront to be able to eventually play the game on a system you may not even have yet.

And for fans of collecting physical copies of games, you should know that Horizon Forbidden West’s Collector’s and Regalla Editions won’t come with game discs. Instead, they’ll have a download code that lets you play Horizon Forbidden West on PS4 or PS5. Those more expensive editions of the game do offer a lot of other bonuses, though, including impressive statues of a big elephant-like machine. You can read all about what’s available in each edition on Sony’s blog.

Sony showed off some impressive footage of Horizon Forbidden West in May, and it’s possible we could see more of the game at the just-announced PlayStation showcase for September 9th. We’ll be rounded up the biggest announcements, so check back then.