Developed by Ranger Studios and published by Sony, the open-world RPG Horizon: Desperate West will be released in two days. Although in the publicity stage, the heroine was complained about by netizens because of her appearance. As a new generation of game IP that Sony has embraced, Horizon: Desperate Situation of the West is currently moving towards the position of "PS5 game ceiling" with excellent production standards.
Yesterday' rating of "Horizon: Desperate Situation in the West" has been lifted, IGN gave a high score of 9 points, and M station scored 89 points. None of the 100 media outlets participating in the review had a bad review, which further strengthened the players' determination to pre-order. On February 18, "Horizon: Desperate Situation of the West" will be officially released, but at this point, Sony's sales method has problems.
Today, foreign media outlet VGC reported a news story in which lawyer Richard Hoeg pointed out that Sony was defrauding consumers when selling Horizon: Desperate Situation in the West.
In short, Horizon: Desperate West is available in PS4 and PS5 versions, which sell for $59.99 and $69.99, respectively. If it is a general game, the price difference between the next-generation version and the current generation version is understandable, but Sony's PS exclusive masterpiece "Horizon: The Desperate Situation of the West" can be upgraded from the PS4 version to the PS5 version for free.
This means that players who buy the PS5 version spend an extra $10! (The gap between the PS4 version and the PS5 version in the port area is 100 yuan)
And this way of selling is not an oversight of the Sony store, when the player searches for Horizon: Desperate West in the Sony store, the two products found at different prices are essentially the same (the PS4 version can be upgraded for free). The $69.99 PS5 version is more conspicuous and has no explanation for the free upgrade version, which misleads many players who don't understand the situation.
This kind of sales method can naturally help Sony to obtain additional revenue. Lawyer Richard Hoeg, who gave an example of a 20 million sales volume for his previous film Horizon: Dawn of Zero, complained that Sony relied on this hand: "I can make an additional $200 million." ”
Although this figure is a bit exaggerated (it is too difficult to sell 20 million copies of the PS5 version alone), it is also true that this sales method misleads consumers. Richard Hoeg believes that this fraudulent sales method will cause trouble for Sony, because the Federal Trade Commission, which regulates consumer fraud, may file a class-action lawsuit against it.
However, the outside world's evaluation and dissatisfaction seem to have been perceived by Sony, and the PS4 version and PS5 version of Horizon: West's Desperate Situation in the current PS port store have been merged into a product, priced at 468 yuan. As for whether players who have previously pre-ordered the PS5 version will receive a refund, it depends on Sony's subsequent further moves.
In the words of the player, it is not worth it to make yourself late for 10 US knives.