Before the flames of popular anger flared up, Sony returned the post-apocalyptic action game Horizon Forbidden West to sale for 130 Steam regions, from which it had previously mysteriously disappeared.
Image source: Steam (Braen Rock)
Let’s remember that on January 21 – exactly 10 months after its release – Sony, without explanation, withdrew Horizon Forbidden West from sale in 130 Steam segments, where the game had been available since its release on March 21, 2024.
It was assumed that in this way Horizon Forbidden West was preparing for the introduction of mandatory PSN account linking, which is accompanied by similar regional restrictions, but the alarm ultimately turned out to be false.
Image source: SteamDB
As Steam users noted, on the night of January 22-23, Horizon Forbidden West returned to sale for Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia, Uzbekistan and more than 120 other regions. The change can be tracked in SteamDB.
For what reason Sony temporarily withdrew Horizon Forbidden West from sale in 130 Steam regions remains a mystery. This probably happened by mistake. At the time of publication of the material, the company did not comment on the situation.
Image source: Steam
Horizon Forbidden West, unlike Sony’s other PC releases in 2024 (including the Horizon Zero Dawn remaster), does not require a PlayStation account to be linked.
Sony explains the imposition of PSN accounts on PC users by the desire to ensure order and a safe environment in game services, however, linking accounts is already appearing in the company’s single-player releases.