Would You Consider The ''Horizon'' Franchise A System Seller?

Do you consider ''Horizon'' Series a system seller?

  • Yeah

    Votes: 112 28.1%

  • No

    Votes: 286 71.9%
  • Total voters
    398
20+ million sales from the first game alone isn't a system seller?

Sarcastic Uh Huh GIF


I assume OP means in general.
 
In terms of first party franchises there are only a handful of franchises that could be considered as system sellers (imo).

Sony - The Last of Us, Uncharted, God of War, Spiderman
MS - Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Forza Horizon (Starfield tbc)
Nintendo - Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Mario Kart, Animal Crossing

Halo and Gears have the potential to be system sellers but Halo has been mismanaged for 15 years and Gears needs to evolve is gameplay. I put Horizon in the tier just below which is a "This game is not a system seller but jfc what a game/series to have addition to X". I think that tier also applies to Ghost of Tsushima, , Gran Turismo, Forza Motorsport and Smash Bros.
 
AV said:
That isn't what happened though, it sold 20m on PS4 and PC. And that 20m figure was reported 5 years after the game released, it's been dirt cheap for years. It's not a system seller if people are taking 5 years to buy it.

This isn't to say it's not a great success for Sony, but so is TLOU, Ghost of Tsushima etc.
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But it is? Ghost of Tsushima was almost at 10M sold in July 2022, 2 years after its original release date. Horizon Zero Dawn had sold 10M by March 2019, exactly 2 years after its release. 3 years later, with the PC release, it was at 20M.

And every Sony game goes to be discounted fairly quickly. Hell, every game not published by Nintendo becomes dirt cheap within a year.
 
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The first game was OK, but I don't think I will pay for any Horizon game again. It was very good mechanically but the story and characters were very boring. I couldn't even complete the 2 hour trial period of the new game. This franchise needs a better creative touch.
 
Gaiff said:
But it is? Ghost of Tsushima was almost at 10M sold in July 2022, 2 years after its original release date. Horizon Zero Dawn had sold 10M by March 2019, exactly 2 years after its release. 3 years later, with the PC release, it was at 20M.

And every Sony game goes to be discounted fairly quickly. Hell, every game not published by Nintendo becomes dirt cheap within a year.
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I don't know what you're trying to say. You said Horizon sold 20m on one platform and that isn't true.

Ragnarok sold 11m in 3 months because it's on another level. Spider-Man 2 will do the same.
 
Not for me, it might be for some ppl. I enjoy more the Horizon franshise than i did Killzone though. The PSVR2 game might be good or not, if it ends being really good it might become a system seller by word of mouth, but PSVR2 already has a system seller, its GT7.
 
I see the story exposition is still unbearable. From pushsquare:
we found it almost impossible to keep up with the politics, all involving the Carjas and the Red Raids.
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Makes me want to turn off voices altogether... If they want the tv show to succeed they need to tone it tf down.
 
It's just not for me. I didn't absolutely hate part 1, but I had enough of it. I got part 1 on PS+ I think. Didn't buy part 2 yet.

Extremely impressive visuals though.
 
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Honestly, not at all. I personally really don't understand the push of the IP. I feel like Sony is really forcing it on its fan base. I KNOW there are folks out there that do love the IP, but I feel like the majority I know really couldn't careless. It quickly went from a decently received IP, to something that's feeling almost oversaturated.

The sequel is still pretty fresh for some folks, and we have a VR game dropping. Along with some online game. Meanwhile I see majority of Sony fans clamoring for any other IP, lol.
 
No, it is an enjoyable game but overall I wouldn't consider it a system seller except for its most diehard fans.
 
AV said:
I don't know what you're trying to say. You said Horizon sold 20m on one platform and that isn't true.

Ragnarok sold 11m in 3 months because it's on another level. Spider-Man 2 will do the same.
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It sold over 20M on PC+PS4 with PS4 counting for like 95% of the sales. That was back in November 2021, over a year ago. It's pretty much at 20M on PS4 alone.

Yes, Ragnarok and Spider-Man are on another level, hence why I said if Horizon isn't a system seller, then Sony has like 2 system sellers which is ridiculous. With that reasoning, even GOW wasn't a system seller until Ragnarok.
 
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Liked the 1st one but not enough to go back for the dlc. Was peak open world fatigue for me. I got part 2 but still have Hogwarts to finish, then god of war 2, and destiny expasion hits soon… and the samurai one I started but barely played…. Yeah prob not getting to it..
 
Wouldn't this be determined by a game's commercial success or lack thereof?
I don't think asking people based on their views seems like an adequate way to properly answer this question.
 
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No, that's the last of us, GT, Spiderman, ratchet and clank and uncharted. It's really good anyhow though.
 
mortal said:
Wouldn't this be determined by a game's commercial success or lack thereof?
I don't think asking people based on their views seems like an adequate way to properly answer this question.
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Personally, I don't think so. Traditionally, system sellers are actually not always the top selling game. In the past they were critically acclaimed and aimed at the hardcore early adopters, and were simply SO GOOD that hardcore gamers were required to buy a system so they don't miss it. Then early adopters spread word of mouth that leads to more widespread casual adoption of systems, and usually sales of more casual games.

If all you want to do is rate the best selling games, then we can just ask what the best selling games are. A system seller is pretty much impossible to actually measure, since it's someone's gut feeling to purchase an entirely different product.
 
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SEGA_2012 said:
No. It is the Metroid of Sony. People love it but it is not a game with "power" enough to sell a system for the masses.
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Looking at the influence and prestige of Metroid.... nah breh, nah.

Metroid has never received the push from Nintendo that Horizon gets from Sony.

Everything I get from Horizon and the vocal Sony base is like that scene from Mean Girls where the girl tells the other girl to "stop trying to make fetch happen".

Sony: "Fetch".
Sonybase:"argghh stfu!"
 
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Gaiff said:
It sold over 20M on PC+PS4 with PS4 counting for like 95% of the sales.
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95% is not 100% and 95% is an air pull. As of like 6 months later it was at 2.4m, we don't have the data in-between.

If you want to make the term "system seller" entirely redundant by reducing it to "games that sell well over a long period" then the port of Super Mario 3D World is a Switch "system seller". That isn't what it means at all but you do you, I'm moving swiftly on.
 
We have long since surpassed "system sellers"

The last time we saw anything be that, was breath of the wild.

Now multiple games that appeal to multiple people are "system sellers" so would people buy something for horizon the same way they would buy for gran turismo and halo and forza and God of War and so on and so forth.
 
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Punished Miku said:
Personally, I don't think so. Traditionally, system sellers are actually not always the top selling game. In the past they were critically acclaimed and aimed at the hardcore early adopters, and were simply SO GOOD that hardcore gamers were required to buy a system so they don't miss it. Then early adopters spread word of mouth that leads to more widespread casual adoption of systems, and usually sales of more casual games.

If all you want to do is rate the best selling games, then we can just ask what the best selling games are. A system seller is pretty much impossible to actually measure, since it's someone's gut feeling to purchase an entirely different product.
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Thank you for clarifying. I just assumed there was a more practical means of measuring or tracking which titles are system sellers, possibly using surveys and other methods.
 
StueyDuck said:
We have long since surpassed "system sellers"

The last time we saw anything be that was breath of the wild.

Now multiple games that appeal to multiple people are "system sellers" so would people buy something for horizon the same way they would buy for gran turismo and halo and forza and God of War and so on and so forth.
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Breath of the Wild is a great example. That literally made people go buy a Switch that probably weren't considering it.

Wasn't that long ago.

mortal said:
Thank you for clarifying. I just assumed there was a more practical means of measuring or tracking which titles are system sellers, possibly using surveys and other methods.
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No problem. It's pretty much only going to be subjective guessing. No one can truly measure it, imho.

Taking a more data driven approach would probably just result in Call of Duty, or other best selling games. But I do think that misses the phenomenon I'm talking about.
 
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Punished Miku said:
Breath of the Wild is a great example. That literally made people go buy a Switch that probably weren't considering it.

Wasn't that long ago.
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It was an entire generation ago and literally released the same week as horizon and as people have said has gone on to sold 20million copies.

The idea of a flagship single game to save a console is kind of dead since we have an abundance of quality games unlike just a couple like the old days
 
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Punished Miku said:
Taking a more data driven approach would probably just result in Call of Duty, or other best selling games. But I do think that misses the phenomenon I'm talking about.
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It's possible Sony's confidence in Horizon IP being a system seller is why they've invested so much into the IP with a sequel, DLC, & a VR spin-off launching with PSVR2.
Had it not been, I doubt they'd even bundle HFW with PS5.
 
mortal said:
It's possible Sony's confidence in Horizon IP being a system seller is why they've invested so much into the IP with a sequel, DLC, & a VR spin-off launching with PSVR2.
Had it not been, I doubt they'd even bundle HFW with PS5.
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The visuals are certainly of a system seller caliber.
 
Punished Miku said:
Personally, I don't think so. Traditionally, system sellers are actually not always the top selling game. In the past they were critically acclaimed and aimed at the hardcore early adopters, and were simply SO GOOD that hardcore gamers were required to buy a system so they don't miss it. Then early adopters spread word of mouth that leads to more widespread casual adoption of systems, and usually sales of more casual games.

If all you want to do is rate the best selling games, then we can just ask what the best selling games are. A system seller is pretty much impossible to actually measure, since it's someone's gut feeling to purchase an entirely different product.
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Horizon 1 and 2 are some of the best-selling Sony games ever, even more than the uncharted series (not combined).

If Horizon is not a system seller, then that would mean the only system sellers are games like Spider-Man.
 
DForce said:
Horizon 1 and 2 are some of the best-selling Sony games ever, even more than the uncharted series (not combined).

If Horizon is not a system seller, then that would mean the only system sellers are games like Spider-Man.
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I personally disagree, but as I've said it's all subjective so you're entitled to your opinion.

I think Sony traditionally had 3rd party system sellers, not 1st party. Final Fantasy Versus XIII was literally a system seller and it didn't even come out. And FFXV doesn't sell as well as Horizon. But they still know that for a certain hardcore segment of gamers, mainline FF is a system seller. That's why they pay for it to be exclusive.

I may be wrong, but I just don't think of Horizon in the same way.
 
AV said:
95% is not 100% and 95% is an air pull. As of like 6 months later it was at 2.4m, we don't have the data in-between.
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Dude, it was at over 20M back in November 2021, that's over 14 months ago so it's pretty much at 20M now unless you believe it only sold a handful of copies since then.
AV said:
If you want to make the term "system seller" entirely redundant by reducing it to "games that sell well over a long period" then the port of Super Mario 3D World is a Switch "system seller". That isn't what it means at all but you do you, I'm moving swiftly on.
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No, I'm saying a game that is like the 3rd best-selling Sony game on PS4 is a system seller. For comparison's sake, God of War 2018 reached 20M in March 2022 and by November 2022, it was at 23M, 3M more copies than Horizon. It also took it years to reach 20M copies sold and was also heavily discounted. By your logic, it isn't a system seller either. Only GOWR and Spider-Man are.
 
No way. At their core, they are solid but extremely predictable open world games. The graphics are insane. So on those two factors, the games would still sell, but their sales have been dramatically inflated by bundles. Especially the first game.
 
Yea, for some. It's certainly looks the part, it's a very good looking game even being a cross-gen game. It has a cool ass setting with cool ass enemies.

I think it's held back from being a "true" system seller because it not "shooty" enough, if it were guns it would have been more successful. I am convinced that if the gameplay were exactly the same, but with guns... it's gameplay would be considered more fun. If it had a sexier main character it would have been more successful, the casual gamer might have been more willing to take a chance on it. Probably even if it were a man, it probs would have sold better. It's also a "new" franchise... it doesn't have the name recognition of some other franchise and it doesn't because of the things I had stated previously.
 
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I bet if you asked people why they bought a PlayStation in the past, the answers would be JRPGs, Call of Duty, MLB The Show, Gran Turismo, and God of War.

Now it's more God of War and JRPGs, since The Show is multiplatform, Forza is a viable alternative to GT, and Call of Duty is selling to Microsoft. Horizon is cool and all but it's not doing anything you'll buy a new console for.
 
Somehow the whole Horizon series is strange. I liked the first part, but it took me a while to warm up to it. Only the Frozen Wilds Dlc I liked very much. I expected a further evolution with part 2, but it was more like 2-3 steps back. It seems to sell well, so it's probably a system seller.

I felt the same way about the Killzone series. Meanwhile I think GG is talented in graphics but gameplay and story are not their strong points.
 
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Gaiff said:
By your logic, it isn't a system seller either. Only GOWR and Spider-Man are.
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Sorry, my original post should have been clearer, will edit. The OP asked about the Horizon franchise being one and it isn't because Forbidden West did very well, but not system seller well. The franchise didn't pick up steam, it remained pretty much constant. Ragnarok moved mountains and Spider-Man 2 will do the same because those are the two definitive system sellers.

I'd also put Gran Turismo in there even with lower overall sales, because it'll sell consoles to people who play nothing but Gran Turismo.
 
Gaiff said:
I'd say a game selling 20M+ on a single console is a system seller, yes.

If a game that manages 20M on one system but isn't a system seller, then what is the benchmark? 30M? In that case, only Spidey and maybe GOW are Playstation system sellers.
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Let's make it simple.

Do you see/hear s large group of people say i'm getting a PS4/5 for Horizon?

When it comes to PS i've only seen this happen to games like GOW, Spiderman, MGS, FF etc etc.

When they talk system sellers they usually mean killer apps. Like Zelda, Mario, COD, GOW, MGS, HALO, GTA etc.

What do these games have incommon? A Hardcore fanbase. Something a game like Horizon doesn't have from what i've seen. Also it's a relatively new IP. Personally i hope GG starts working on a new IP and move on from Horizon.
 
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StueyDuck said:
We have long since surpassed "system sellers"

The last time we saw anything be that, was breath of the wild.

Now multiple games that appeal to multiple people are "system sellers" so would people buy something for horizon the same way they would buy for gran turismo and halo and forza and God of War and so on and so forth.
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I'd say Animal Crossing is the more recent example of a system seller.

It might not be a hot topic on Gaf/Era but it was hugely successful in terms of both software and hardware movement.
 
No, not to most. God of War is a system seller. Spider-Man is a system seller. Horizon Forbidden West is a nice game to play once you've got the system. That's not to take away from it being a fun game that visually above 90% of everything else on the market
 
Oof85 said:
I'd say Animal Crossing is the more recent example of a system seller.

It might not be a hot topic on Gaf/Era but it was hugely successful in terms of both software and hardware movement.
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My girlfriend bought a Switch for that game alone. Put in several hundred hours and hasn't touched the system since.
 
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