Horizon Forbidden West came out a week ago and it was well-received by both critics and fans. Developer Guerrilla Games was praised for improving the side quests of Horizon Forbidden West, while also expanding the combat in meaningful ways.
Horizon Forbidden West already has a lot of content and players will take tens of hours to finish the game. Along with side quests, players can quickly earn skill points in Horizon Forbidden West by completing the different types of open-world activities, allowing them to unlock new abilities. Now, a new leak suggests that Guerrilla Games will be adding DLC and in-game purchases to Horizon Forbidden West.
The Twitter account of VSC Rating Board, which rates video games in the UK using the PEGI system, released a new video that aims to explain why Horizon Forbidden West received its age rating. The video opens by introducing the setting and story of this series and confirms that Horizon Forbidden West is rated PEGI 16, mainly due to its depiction of violence. It then explains that players can connect to an online storefront in Horizon Forbidden West, allowing them to purchase future DLC. It specifically uses the term "DLC expansions" and ends by recommending other games similar to the Horizon series.
Horizon Forbidden West does not have any online storefront as of today. Perhaps the rating board leaked items that are supposed to be added in a future update, as the ESRB rating of the game also mentions these in-game purchases. While the video clarifies that these items are not needed to play Horizon Forbidden West, fans may be taken aback due to Sony’s history with in-game purchases in first-party games.
PlayStation’s single-player games typically do not have any in-game purchases, and this is true for all of Sony’s big franchises including Horizon, God of War, and Spider-Man. Sony’s multiplayer games do support microtransactions, and players can expect the upcoming multiplayer title set in The Last of Us universe to feature an in-game shop.
The reception to the online store solely depends upon Guerrilla Games' implementation and fans can hope none of the items will have an impact on the gameplay or progression system of Horizon Forbidden West. Ubisoft was widely criticized for adding armor sets to the in-game store of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and Horizon may feature similar items. Horizon Zero Dawn did receive an expansion in the form of The Frozen Wilds, and perhaps this shop will only include bite-sized story content and cosmetic items.
Horizon Forbidden West is out now for PS4 and PS5.
