Horizon Zero Dawn PC version pulled to make way for remaster, which requires PSN

Sony’s controversial strategy to require a PlayStation Network account for its PC games is now affecting Horizon Zero Dawn. On Friday, the PlayStation maker delisted the original Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition on Steam and the Epic Games Store to make way for its forthcoming replacement, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered.

Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition was previously available in countries where Steam is accessible. The Steam page for the Complete Edition remains live, but the game itself is no longer available for purchase. Steam customers are instead presented with the option to pre-order Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered or buy the 2022 sequel, Horizon Forbidden West.

The decision to pull the previously released PC version of Horizon Zero Dawn will make it more difficult for customers in some countries to play the game, as the Remastered release — out on Oct. 31 — will require a PSN account. Sony’s PlayStation Network is not officially available in more than a hundred countries, primarily in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

Sony requires a PSN account for many of its newer PC titles, including single-player titles Until Dawn and God of War Ragnarök, a decision that has elicited ire from customers.

PC customer revolted back in May when Sony required players of Helldivers 2 to link a PlayStation Network account to the game. That post-launch requirement sparked intense backlash, as players review bombed the game on Steam, flooding the game’s store page with hundreds of thousands of negative reviews. Sony ultimately reversed that unpopular decision — and developer Arrowhead Game Studios turned Helldivers 2’s negative review chart on Steam into an in-game cape — but the popular co-op shooter is still unavailable for purchase in countries where PlayStation Network is not supported.

For now, Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition on PC is still available for purchase through GOG.com, which boasts that “no activation or online connection [is] required to play.” Polygon has reached out to Sony Interactive Entertainment for comment on Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition’s delisting and whether it will remain for sale on GOG.com, and will update when the company responds.

While delisting games to make way for re-releases is a common practice, other publishers have taken more consumer-friendly approaches to handling the rollout of remakes and remasters.