Sony plans to remove Horizon Zero Dawn, one of its biggest first-party games, from PlayStation Plus on May 21; the game is PS4-only, hinting at a PS5 release
Horizon Zero Dawn to leave later this month. — News by Tom Phillips Editor-in-Chief — Follow Horizon: Zero Dawn
Context & Ripple Effects
PlayStation Plus was introduced with a regionally phased game lineup in Sony's 2022 service rollout, establishing the subscription catalog as a curated offering rather than a fixed library. The departure of a major first-party title underscores that catalog access can be actively managed over a game's lifecycle.
The move also follows Sony's disclosure that layoffs would affect Guerrilla and other major studios including Horizon developer Guerrilla. That makes the commercial handling of proven franchises more consequential for the publisher's existing studio portfolio.
First-order effects
- PlayStation Plus members will lose catalog access to Horizon Zero Dawn on May 21, reducing the service's first-party offering immediately.
- The PS4-only designation creates a clearer opening for Sony to reposition the game around a potential PS5 version, though no such release is confirmed by the removal itself.
Second-order effects
- If a PS5 edition follows, Sony can shift demand from subscription access toward a newer standalone product and any associated franchise sales.
- The change makes PlayStation Plus's value proposition more dependent on the replacement lineup, while reminding subscribers that marquee first-party games may rotate out.
Third-order effects
- If Sony repeatedly removes established first-party games before refreshed releases, subscription catalogs could increasingly function as timed discovery windows alongside premium re-releases rather than permanent franchise archives.
- That would sharpen the trade-off captured by the original PS Plus catalog rollout: using exclusive games to support subscriptions while preserving opportunities to monetize them separately.
The trend: This is one data point in Sony's broader balancing of first-party franchises between subscription engagement and the opportunity to resell refreshed versions.