Horizon Zero Dawn was released in the USA on February 28, 2017 — two years ago. During this time, it has sold 10 million copies, as announced yesterday by Guerilla Games studio.
The earliest reviews hinted that we had created something special. But we could not have imagined that even in 2019 we would receive daily messages from grateful players.
Founder of Guerilla Games
For the authors of Horizon Zero Dawn, such sales are a reason for pride. This is easily guessed by the tone of their message. In addition, their previous game, Killzone: Shadow Fall, managed to reach sales of only 3 million copies in six years, according to VGChartz. But is 10 million copies sold really that much for a two—year-old PS4 exclusive?
App2Top compared the results of Horizon Zero Dawn with the successes of several more PS4 games — and that’s what happened.
The Last of Us
Like Horizon Zero Dawn, The Last of Us franchise is now represented by only one released game. It sold 17 million copies in five years after its release.
Initially, The Last of Us was released on PS3. In 2014, her remaster appeared on PS4. Right before its release, Naughty Dog revealed the game’s sales data: by that time it had sold 7 million copies on the PS3.
Marvel’s Spider-Man
It is also the only game in its series. But before her there were comics, movies, animated series and other content about Spider-Man. Including other games, mostly not too highly rated.
Given the large starved fan base, the game from Insomniac Games can be called truly long-awaited. Immediately after the release, it began to break sales records. After almost six months, its result is 9 million copies sold.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Released on PS4, the final part of the adventures of Nathan Drake sold the same 10 million copies in two and a half years as Horizon Zero Dawn — in two years.
At one time, the game became the fastest-selling PS4 exclusive. Also note that the entire Uncharted franchise (with offshoots and reissues) sold 41.7 million copies by December 2017.
God of War
It would be strange not to mention last year’s God of War, winner of The Game Awards 2018. The eighth part of the series was the record-holder of initial sales (3.1 million copies in three days), until Marvel’s Spider-Man was released (3.3 million copies in three days).
There is no data on the sales of the game for the entire period. But it is known that in the first month it sold 5 million copies. That is, half of the two-year circulation of Horizon Zero Dawn.
Result
For a completely new IP, which is Horizon Zero Dawn, sales of 10 million copies are really a success. A game about a post-apocalyptic world ruled by bestial robots can be considered one of Sony’s most successful projects. In particular, its sales are comparable to the results of the last Uncharted. Whether Horizon Zero Dawn will be able to reach the level of The Last of Us in 17 million copies in three years (or exceed it) is difficult to say. Although her pace is good.
We add that Guerilla Games is rumored to be actively working on a full-fledged sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn. But it’s too early to predict whether the sequel will be released on PlayStation 4 or will be one of the first novelties for the next version of the console.
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