Sony Delists Original Horizon Zero Dawn on PC, Forces PSN Requirement for Remaster - IGN
www.ign.com
Sony’s controversial PlayStation Network requirement for its PC games is once again in the spotlight after the company delisted the original Horizon Zero Dawn on Steam and the Epic Games Store and added the PSN requirement to the upcoming single-player remaster.
  • ISOmorph@feddit.org
    641·
    2 months ago

    Even if I was a bazillionaire, I’d still be pirating Sony games out of principle

    • babybus@sh.itjust.works
      21·
      2 months ago

      It’s funny that I could buy and play the original game, but not this remaster or the sequel. That’s because Sony doesn’t acknowledge that my country exists.

      • ocassionallyaduck@lemmy.world
        21·
        2 months ago

        But it is, as a bundle.

        They’re having one HZD listing, for both copies If you buy it in 6 months you can still play the original release with no PSN and no remake changes, they just package the remake with it now on the store.

    • drunkosaurus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      7·
      2 months ago

      I have it too, and I was patiently waiting for Forbidden West to show up on GOG too, guess it’s not gonna happen now, yo ho ho?

    • unfnknblvbl@beehaw.org
      1·
      2 months ago

      Of all the games that could benefit from a remastering in 2024, Horizon Zero Dawn would be among the last of them. That game still looks utterly gorgeous, ffs.

      • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.comM
        4·
        2 months ago

        If Sony pulls it, they pull it. GOG wouldn’t have any options, it’s not theirs to sell, they are just a storefront.

        • Moog Muskie@lemmy.zip
          2·
          2 months ago

          The advantage and point of the DRM-Free nature of GOG is that once you download a game, it stays on your computer even if the game is removed and made unavailable to download. And you are able to download an “offline installer” file which can be backed up and used to install the game at any point in time even without an internet connection. So buying it on GOG knowing it may be removed is still hugely advantageous.

          • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.comM
            3·
            2 months ago

            To play devils advocate, semi-similar is true on Steam for the most part. Even though the original was pulled by Sony, you can still download and play it if you previously purchased it.

            I do have an expansive offline library though, I admit. Though I’d also say that a company removing access to something you paid for is the most moral reason there is to pirate that something.

            • Moog Muskie@lemmy.zip
              1·
              2 months ago

              Yeah for sure. You can still download it from Steam at the moment if you already have a license for it, and probably for quite some years, so thank God for that. But if it ever stops being available for download for some reason from Steam, the game won’t be able to be downloaded at all anymore. On GOG, as long as you kept a backup of your personal installer file, the game will always be installable forever as long as you don’t lose your backups and there isn’t some crazy post-apocalyptic event that takes away our technology.

        • SharkAttak@kbin.melroy.org
          1·
          2 months ago

          According to the other thread, the game asks for limited or full data collection anyway, so I was asking; maybe it’s just for performance analisys or smthg, but nowadays you can’t trust anyone.

  • absquatulate@lemmy.world
    212·
    2 months ago

    This original was already a privacy nightmare, even on GOG, which is why I was hesitant to buy it. Looks like I’m definitely pirating it now if I wanna play it. But hey, at least now we know why sony insisted on “remastering” it.

  • ocassionallyaduck@lemmy.world
    7·
    2 months ago

    This is not true in the literal sense.

    You cannot redeem HZD keys, and buy it as part of a bundle with both versions. They stopped selling it standalone.

    So you can get the upgrade for $10 if you already have it, or wait for a sale on the bundle.

    But in either case you can still play the original release without the PSN requirement even if bought after the remaster release.

      • ocassionallyaduck@lemmy.world
        1·
        2 months ago

        Well they have structured the Remaster as a DLC upgrade that requires the base game license.

        So they would have to delist their new listing and create an entirely new release.

        Honestly 99% chance they did it this way to preserve the review history of the original game on the Remaster.

      • Grass@sh.itjust.works
        76·
        2 months ago

        it was more about showcasing my mental illness and how I can’t help punishing myself by playing games like old kingdom or old bioshock, or both borderlands. I also tried to do ori but now I have work burnout and gaming burnout. I wouldn’t actually feel inclined to double zero dawn as the game really is enough of a slog just to complete the main story and I really really don’t want to suffer any more.

      • SolarMonkey@slrpnk.net
        3·
        2 months ago

        I have 4 and haven’t even played it yet!

        That’s actually true… I had it for 360 and forgot about it so bought it again for ps3 and promptly forgot about it, then got a copy for ps4 from a friend… Played a bit, but it’s not the same as playing on PC, which is how I played morrowind and oblivion so never got into it, then I bought the ps4 vr version because it seemed like it was the perfect type of game for VR, being first person and all… nope that was a mistake, the texture in vr version makes me seriously motion sick… can’t get past the intro scene.

        I’ll probably pirate a pc version at some point… I’ve paid for it enough to not feel at all bad doing that (not that I would anyway). It’s just not great on console.

        • Grass@sh.itjust.works
          4·
          2 months ago

          Kinda same. I do have it on switch and 360 but those are my pirated copies and you couldn’t even apply the unofficial patch so I never ended up playing them much. I bought the pc version then was later gifted SE, and ended up starting this regretful and hellish dupe game achievement quest as a joke with the friends that got me the game since it turned out I had several duplicates. -17/10 Would not recommend.

          • SolarMonkey@slrpnk.net
            3·
            2 months ago

            When you say dupe game achievements, do you mean you had to get all the achievements on the same game multiple times? That sounds hellish, if so… but I’m a bit curious…

            I have bought a few duplicates over the years, but started using gameye to prevent duplicate purchases (I only do physical games, mostly used, so it helps a ton)

            • Grass@sh.itjust.works
              3·
              2 months ago

              yeah the same game twice. generally a remaster or goty/special edition/etc.

              It went something like: friend: hey grass I got you a game! me: oh cool thanks. *redeems game without thinking… me: wait I already have this friend: its the special edition. me: but I’ll have to get the achievements a second time. friend: you won’t do that, your only all achievement game is mw2.

              then other friends got me more duplicates because they knew I would be an idiot and do it repeatedly to ‘prove a point’. In the end a miserable time. The easiest were the souls games because once you learn the controls they are all the same, apart from the different enemy placements in ds2. hardest was probably between the older version of kingdom or old bioshock 2 due to buggy achievements and the ungodly amount of time doing the exact same thing until it worked

              • SolarMonkey@slrpnk.net
                3·
                2 months ago

                😂 that sounds horrible.

                I’m not super into frustration, and it’s gotta be a good game for me to replay it… I have -so many- options…

                But that does sound like the sort of spiteful thing I’d do… like I can’t even tell you how many new kongregate accounts I made back in the day so I could play the same games over again and get all the achievements… and if you can get them once it tends to be easier the second time…