PlayStation 4’s Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition got a price bump ahead of the recently revealed remaster for PlayStation 5 and PC.
The bundled version of Guerrilla’s sci-fi RPG was $20 for several years (thanks, PSPrices), but has now been doubled $40. The PS5 and PC version will be $50 (its original price in 2017), and PS4 owners can upgrade to that for $10.
Sony is basically looking to prevent players from exploiting a loophole and paying only $30 for the new version of Horizon, in turn losing out on $20 from PS4 owners.
PlayStation 5 games are no stranger to odd upgrade structures. Before Horizon Forbidden West’s release, Sony required PlayStation 4 owners to buy another copy if they wanted it on PS5, a console which could be hard to get at the time.
After backlash, Sony reversed course and made the upgrade path free for all players, regardless of what version they bought at the time. However, this was a one-time deal: cross-gen first-party titles (like God of War Ragnarok) cost $10 to upgrade from PS4 to PS5.
That method has stuck as recently as the PS5 remaster of The Last of Us Part II from earlier this year, and will remain for whatever other remasters PlayStation has in development.