Remakes and remasters have become a huge part of gaming recently, with some of the most beloved releases of the past few years being remakes of earlier titles like Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space. Criticism of their prevalence has grown alongside their popularity, and a common rebuttal to those critiques is, “no one is stopping you from just ignoring them and playing the originals.” Well, it turns out sometimes someone is stopping you from playing the originals, and it’s their original publishers. That’s the case with Horizon Zero Dawn, which has suddenly been removed from sale on PC ahead of the game’s impending remaster.
When Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered was announced in September, it was already a bit suspect. The original game was released in 2017, and it still plays and looks fine on both the PS4 and PS5. It was even available through PS Plus for a while, until it was suddenly remove around the first time rumors of the remaster began swirling. I criticized the announcement at the time, on the grounds that a game so recent and so accessible is the worst candidate possible for a remake.
