PlayStation claims that offering first party games on PS Plus has an adverse effect on their traditional sales.
Included in the recent spree of PlayStation leaks is a presentation slide that shows the effect of first party titles being offered as part of the PS Plus Extra and Premium catalog on their traditional sales stats. The stats presented in the graph are for the Guerrilla Games’ action role-playing games, Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West.
PlayStation claims it is very clear that the inclusion of first party titles into the PS Plus Extra and Premium catalog has had a big effect on traditional sales. As per the console maker, the graph shows the Daily Game Activations for Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West in the first year of their respective release were very comparable. The aforementioned graph can be seen below.
https://imgur.com/VgCVzdO
The slide further mentions that Horizon Forbidden West was included into PS Plus at the start of its second year since release. The game saw an enormous influx of PS Plus players, but at the cost of flat lining the Game Activations from retail sales.
https://imgur.com/Ys9NpKW
Based on sales projection, the company predicts that the 30% YoY revenue for Horizon Forbidden West would have been $124 million in Year 2. However, due to its inclusion in the PS Plus Extra and Premium game catalog, Sony Interactive Entertainment projected $35 million, which is only 9% YoY revenue for Horizon Forbidden West. This represents a loss of $85 million to Horizon Forbidden West’s retail revenue.
Horizon Forbidden West was released for both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on February 18, 2022. As a continuation of 2017’s Horizon Zero Dawn, the game unfolds in a post-apocalyptic rendition of the Western United States, grappling with the consequences of an extinction event triggered by a rebellious swarm of robots. Players navigate the open world as the protagonist Aloy, engaging in quests and employing ranged and melee weapons to combat hostile machine creatures.
