Horizon Forbidden West joins PlayStation Plus one year after launch

Over a full year after its release, Horizon Forbidden West will come to PlayStation Plus. On Tuesday, February 21, the sci-fi RPG will be added to the Extra and Premium tiers of Sony's subscription service on both PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4. 

For further comparison, the original Horizon Zero Dawn released on February 28, 2017. The base version never came to PlayStation Plus, though it was bundled with the Frozen Wilds expansion and made free for two weeks in 2021 to encourage PlayStation owners to stay at home during the pandemic. 

It's a notable addition since Sony typically puts its first-party titles on PlayStation Plus years after release. God of War 2018 joined the service in June 2022, for example, months before God of War Ragnarok's release in November of that same year. 

One reason for Horizon Forbidden West's inclusion may be that its Burning Shores expansion is expected to release in April. The PlayStation VR2 spinoff Horizon: Call of the Mountain is also meant to release on February 22, the day after Forbidden West comes to PlayStation Plus. 

This may also quietly speak to Forbidden West's sales performance over the past year. Unlike with God of War Ragnarok, Sony has not been quite as loud and proud about the success of Guerrilla's sequel. Sony appears to still have faith in the Horizon series, though, since it's known Guerrilla is developing a multiplayer spinoff. 

PlayStation Plus gains another PlayStation classic

In addition to Horizon Forbidden West, another notable game joining the PlayStation Plus catalog is The Legend of Dragoon on its Premium tier.

Developed by the now defunct Sony Japan Studio, the JRPG released in 1999 in Japan (and 2000 for the US) to mixed reviews. In its initial release, it sold 1 million copies, with much of those sales being driven by North American audiences. 

The Legend of Dragoon was released on the PlayStation 3 in 2010 as a PlayStation Classic, but hasn't received any real preservation efforts by Sony beyond that. Unless Sony secretly has a remake in the works, the Premium tier on either PS5 or PS4 will be the only legal way to play the beloved title. 

You can see the full list of games joining PlayStation Plus next week right here, which includes Supermassive's The Quarry and Capcom's Resident Evil 7.