It has barely been a year since Horizon Forbidden West was released, but a leaker claims that it is about to be featured on PlayStation Plus. Should this be accurate, it could be a significant change in the strategy Sony takes with its first-party expansive and high-end games.
According to billbil-kun, an accurate tease-poster on Twitter which had the right information concerning the proclamation of Hi-Fi Rush at the Bethesda Developer Showcase early this year, asserted that Horizon Forbidden West, Scarlet Nexus, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, and Borderlands 3 will be accessible for download to PS Plus users on February 21.
It is unclear where each game is headed in terms of the service, but it is likely Horizon will be available to the most expensive Premium tier. The remaining games are old enough that they could be included in the Extra tier, however, Scarlet Nexus could possibly be accessible to Premium as a strategy to bring in more supporters of JRPG titles.
Sony has been adamant in its refusal to put their titles on PlayStation Plus the same day they appear in stores, meaning PS Plus won’t ever be at the same level as Xbox Game Pass. Nevertheless, including in the service popular titles from first-party producers a year after they come out could be a major contributor to increasing its value.
Currently, Sony is mainly improving its profits by bringing its most popular titles to PC, such as The Last of Us, God of War, and Horizon Zero Dawn. It is also elevating its gaming movie releases with Uncharted, and utilizing a branding resembling Marvel’s to exhibit its list of characters.
It looks like they’re expanding into television; Amazon is developing a show based on God of War, plus the recent Bungie acquisition could lead to a cartoon show.