Will Horizon Forbidden West come to PC? For players that prefer to boot up their open-world adventure games via Steam on a trusty Windows computer, that’s quite a big question at the moment.
For players on PlayStation consoles, Aloy’s adventures are finally about to get back underway with the imminent release of Horizon Forbidden West — AKA the thing that will take up a large portion of our weekend.
And what a weekend it is set to be as the game looks set to dazzle and impress just as much as the first did. Reviews have been impressive with many heralding it as a worthy successor.
But while the game is launching on PS4 or a PS5 to start with, many are wondering if we will ever see Horizon Forbidden West on PC. If that is the plan, it is certainly being kept under wraps for now.
So, is PC set to be another home for Horizon Forbidden West? Here’s all we know.
Will Horizon Forbidden West release on PC?
Horizon Forbidden West is not launching on PC any time soon. The game’s release this week is solely intended for PlayStation consoles, namely the PS4 and PS5.
This is a fair question to ask, though! In the past we could just have said a quick no and then moved on, but PlayStation ‘exclusive’ games have started to pop up on PC in recent years.
The original Horizon Zero Dawn came to PC in 2020 (more than three years after its original PS4 launch), and more recently we’ve seen Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding, Bend Studio’s Days Gone and Sony Santa Monica’s God of War making that same leap from console to computer.
The Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection has also been confirmed for a PC release, as Sony continues its gradual project of porting its popular franchises over onto Windows. There is normally quite a long gap between the console launch and computer one, though.
But as things stand, Horizon Forbidden West is only playable if you are a PlayStation owner and there are no immediate plans for it to be ported over for PC players.
The key word there is ‘immediate’, though. With the first game now on PC, it stands to reason that the sequel will follow suit at some point — just do not expect that to happen for quite some time yet, if it ever does.
If we hear anything positive that it is on the cards regarding a Horizon Forbidden West PC release date, we’ll be sure to let you know. If we had to guess, we’d estimate that such a port may not be with us until something like 2025.
If you’re desperate to play as Aloy on a PC, the original Horizon Zero Dawn game is still available on Steam for computer-based players to discover. And if you haven’t played it already, you really should!
What has Sony said about PC ports?
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Interviewed for the PlayStation blog in June 2021, PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst was asked the question, ”How does PC fit into the worldview of PlayStation Studios moving forward?”
Hulst replied, “We’re still early on in our planning for PC. And Horizon Zero Dawn has been very successful. I think it shows there’s an appetite from gamers outside the PlayStation ecosystem to experience the amazing portfolio of games that PlayStation fans have enjoyed for years.
“But I want to emphasise that PlayStation will remain the best place to play our PlayStation Studios titles at launch. But we do value PC gamers, and we’ll continue to look at the right times to launch each game. Bend Studio just released the PC version of Days Gone on May 18. So that’s about two years after the PS4 release.
“And I hope that a new set of fans can and will enjoy that title. And that’s the goal — we want to reach new gamers who haven’t yet experienced the great stories, characters, and worlds that we’ve built. Releasing games on PC will not come ever at the expense of building an exciting lineup of great console games.”
Basically, it sounds like Sony’s exclusive games will always launch on PlayStation consoles before they come to PC, with the company carefully choosing its moments for PC ports. Don’t hold your breath for that Horizon Forbidden West PC port to be soon, then.
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