Topic: Horizon Forbidden West

@colonelkilgore Yeah, there's a ton of marketing for it too (like outdoor campaigns and stuff). I expect it to be one of Sony's most successful games to date.

@colonelkilgore @Voltan @velio84 It's great to see a load of hype for this game and that people are really excited to get playing as soon as. I'd be doing that if I could but really should try and spend some time at work with the fam 😀

It seems like there's a real split 50/50 between people that saying they will get HFW and those that will get ER. I think to a certain extent they will cannibalise sales off of each other, but I also think there is that distinction between the gaming crowd and those people that will naturally get pulled towards a souls like game and those that will be put off of ER for that reason. I feel I'm in-between and I'm hyped for both games but just want HFW first. Hopefully both games will do well!

@render I'm sure they will. And while they might indeed cannibalize some of the "release weekend" sales, that shouldn't matter in the long run (and I doubt the effect will be very significant anyway, tbh)

@render I’m definitely more hyped for Elden Ring (I’m probably as hyped as I’ve ever been for a game) but just by virtue of HFW releasing first, I’m gonna play it first. I very rarely play games at release (or even during the calendar year of their release) but there’s gonna be a fair few this year that will buck that trend.

I suspect that HFW will outsell ER, even though ER is multiplatform. I could be wrong though. But partly I say this because my feeing is that multiplatform games tend to sell much better on PS. I know there’s the narrative about “GamePass subscribers buy more games than non-prescribers” and “Games sell better when they’ve been put on GamePass” but I figure From didn’t put ER on GamePass for a reason.

Otherwise, if you figure PS players will split their monies between the two games and Xbox gamers will only be getting ER, you’d think ER will outsell HFW, but my hunch is that HFW will actually sell more despite this. I could be totally wrong though.

When you compare lifetime sales of HZD to From’s best selling game DS3, they are pretty even at around 10 million each. Sekiro ‘only’ achieved 5-6 million. I think ER will have the hype to outsell DS3 over the long haul, but I think HFW might just outsell it’s predecessor too. Hard to say. The two releases right next to each other will muddy the water on which game will sell more over its lifetime, and that might just depend on which game ends up being ‘better.’ ER is definitely more of a niche game though and so won’t appeal to masses quite like Horizon will.

@velio84 @colonelkilgore I didn't really get the hype around ER before I played DeS and now I totally understand why so many people have been looking forward to it. They really seem to have this special formula and even though others have tried to copy no one has nailed it quite like From have. It looks like it's going to be a big game as well so it's going to keep people busy for a while.

Both games though have had a big lead up to them and I think that's added to the excitement to get these things. Horizon was billed as one of the launch games and a lot of people will have been seeing footage since the future of gaming show so it's really just been building. There was then all that talk about if it was a cross gen game or not and it seemed to have taken a few body blows because of that but they've turned it round again by showing that it looks so good even on a base PS4. Now everyone is just plain excited to get this game no matter what machine you've got.

It really looks like they are going to deliver on their promises as well from everything they've shown so far and I can't see this going any other way than getting great reviews! Definitely PlayStation at its best.

@Th3solution I think you are right, there are more casual gamers than serious gamers and I think sales to those people will likely give HFW the edge. Last time round HZD released at the same time as Breath of the Wild and struggled a bit against the hype of that game but still sold an absolute truck load. I guess BotW has probably sold more than HZD has but it's done well for Sony and probably better than another Killzone would have done.

@velio84 Totally agree. Success for any single player game is a boon to them all in the war against turning everything into live-service microtransaction-ridden games.

@render I forgot that HZD released toe-to-toe against BotW. Slightly different scenario since each was an exclusive to its platform but was yet it may have affected how each game came out of the gate. I think both did similarly well up front, but BotW has definitely had longer legs because it’s now over 27 million (and counting) in sales. But I think if you compared sales during the first year then the two games would probably be much closer.

@render while I do agree with you, about the whole ‘no one else has quite cracked the souls-like code’… I have really enjoyed all of the un-From souls-likes I’ve played too. Ultimately I think it probably comes down to From’s aesthetics, world building and lore being superior. The combat (which I love) has arguably been bettered in the Nioh games and I think it was you that I was chatting to about The Surge games recently. Honestly, the build diversity and ease of switching between those builds is phenomenal in those games.

That's what excites me so much about Elden Ring. When you think about the epic castles of From Soft games (Boletaria, Lothric etc.)... the thought of stumbling upon a structure of that epic size and architecture... but in an openworld environment (as opposed to an area of a somewhat linear experience) just boggles the mind.

@render Actually, in retrospect, I wonder if one of the reasons Saint’s Row fled its February release date was as much to do with not wanting to compete with these two other gigantic open world games. I suspect it would have been buried by them this month. Plus the game apparently just isn’t ready. But now it may have to release next to Ragnarok and whatever other COD game comes out in the fall. 😅

I don't understand why anyone would rather play Elden Ring than Horizon Forbidden West.

Yah, another fantasy game with hard combat. Haven't seen that before.

😉

HFW features great big giant robots and a truly beautiful setting to explore and enjoy. For me it's a no brainer.

😝

Also, all this talk about Elden Ring. Isn't there a thread dedicated to this game?

🤔

Not having a go but this thread is for Horizon discussion.

So there!

@Col_McCafferty something something something Elden Ring mutha🤬er! 😉

@Col_McCafferty nah, I hadn’t even realised that this was occurring in the HFW thread… you know what it’s like when you just click on notifications and reply. We shall move all further mentions of Elden Ring (& Saints Row for that matter… I’m looking at you @Th3solution 🧐) to the Elden Ring thread, which is an extremely inclusive and diverse thread I might add 🤣

@colonelkilgore I can totally see what you mean regarding the environments and the lore etc so can only imagine what that's going to be like in Elden Ring. What with George R. R. Martin being involved as well that can only take some of that to the next level.

@Th3solution It's actually a bit of a shame when loads of big releases hit at the same time as I do think some games then just get lost in all that. There will also be those instances of people only being able to have time to play one of these huge games or perhaps not have the budget to afford more and might never get back round to playing the ones they missed. I'm a bit like that in that I always feel like I want to catch up on stuff I missed but I'm too busy playing other games. I don't want to rush a game though just to say I've played it, I do like to feel like I've fully explored something first before moving on especially if there are some good trophies on offer. That's another reason why these live service games aren't good as the developers / publishers just want us to play the same game ad infinitum so that all the money stays with them. Hopefully that won't end up muscling out some of these other great single player experiences.

Edit: Just better mention Horizon Forbidden West to fulfil my obligation as it's on the Horizon thread 😁

Sorry to sound harsh but there are so many obligatory comments stating 'I'm playing Elden Ring, will wait for HFW to go on sale' under HFW threads that it would be nice for this to be a safe haven for 'casual' gamers that are playing HFW first and maybe exclusively.

😉

@Col_McCafferty Honestly, I have to agree that there's no chance I'd play Elden Ring over Horizon Forbidden West, but some people love their Souls games as much as we loved Horizon Zero Dawn I suppose.

7 days!

@Col_McCafferty so, you know I’m one of those ‘casuals’ who’ll be playing Horizon Forbidden West first right? 😎

@colonelkilgore ah but you're a 'serious' gamer as you'll drop it the second Elden Ring comes out.

You've got street cred, mate.

😉