Horizon Forbidden West, described in our own 2022 review as “nothing short of phenomenal,” was largely well-received by fans of the original – but in terms of sheer sales, PlayStation veteran Shuhei Yoshida reveals that he thought the sequel could have performed better.
Speaking in his first interview after departing from PlayStation in 2024, the former president of SIE Worldwide Studios for Sony tells Kinda Funny Games that one game’s sales figures, in particular, left him surprised: “The one I was a bit surprised [abou] in terms of the number of units [sold] was the second Horizon game.” According to Yoshida, he expected the sequel to sell better as it came after an already well-established IP.
“Oftentimes, the second game does better because there are already millions of fans,” he explains. This wasn’t the case with Forbidden West, although Yoshida initially thought it might end up being so. “I love Horizon and the game did well, and I was hoping that the sequel would do even better in terms of sales. The game was bigger and great, but I don’t think the second one did as many units as the first one.”
In 2023, PlayStation reported that “the Horizon franchise has sold through more than 32.7 million units worldwide, of which Horizon Forbidden West has sold through over 8.4 million units.” This would align nicely with what Yoshida says to Kinda Funny about the sequel’s figures, with Zero Dawn having sold over 24.3 million units two years ago – at least 15.9 million more than Forbidden West had sold at the time.
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