Honestly, it feels like a lifetime ago. Back in early 2017, the gaming world was bracing for a collision. We had a brand new Nintendo console on the horizon and a little game called Breath of the Wild ready to redefine everything. But then, Guerilla Games—the folks we mostly knew for the gritty, grey-and-brown Killzone series—dropped something completely left-field. They gave us robot dinosaurs.
The original Horizon Zero Dawn release date was February 28, 2017, in North America.
It was a Tuesday. I remember the buzz specifically because people were skeptical. Could the Killzone team actually pull off a vibrant, emotional, open-world RPG? They did. In fact, they did it so well that the game became a cornerstone of the PlayStation 4 era, eventually migrating to PC and now, as of late 2024, receiving a full-blown Remastered treatment for the PS5 and modern hardware.
The Chaos of the 2017 Launch Window
Timing is everything. If you launch a game at the wrong time, it dies.
Guerilla Games took a massive gamble. By sticking to that late February window, they put themselves exactly three days ahead of the Nintendo Switch launch. It was bold. Maybe even a little crazy. Most publishers would have blinked and moved their date to April or May to avoid the Nintendo hype train. Sony didn't budge. They knew they had Aloy.
The North American rollout happened on the 28th, while Europe had to wait until March 1st. In those few days, the internet was basically just a collection of "Photo Mode" screenshots. We hadn't really seen a world that looked like this before—lush greenery growing over rusted tanks and crumbling skyscrapers. It was "post-post-apocalyptic." Not the dusty wasteland of Fallout, but a world that had moved on.
Regional Rollout Variations
- North America: February 28, 2017.
- Europe and most PAL regions: March 1, 2017.
- Japan: March 2, 2017.
It’s worth noting that the "Complete Edition," which bundled the Frozen Wilds expansion, didn't show up until much later. That landed on December 5, 2017. By then, the game had already sold millions. It wasn't just a hit; it was a phenomenon.
Why the PC Port Changed the Conversation
For years, Horizon was the "must-buy" reason for owning a PS4. Then, the walls started to come down. In a move that genuinely shocked the industry at the time, Sony announced they were bringing their crown jewel to Windows.
The PC Horizon Zero Dawn release date was August 7, 2020.
It wasn't a perfect launch. Far from it. When it first hit Steam and the Epic Games Store, it was kind of a mess. Players with high-end rigs were seeing weird crashes and stuttering. Digital Foundry, the gold standard for tech analysis, pointed out that the port lacked some basic optimizations at the start. Guerilla and Virtuos (the porting house) had to scramble. It took months of patches to get it to the "Gold Standard" we see today. But once it worked? Man, seeing Aloy in 4K at 120 frames per second changed the vibe entirely.
It proved that Sony’s first-party titles could live—and thrive—outside the console ecosystem. It paved the way for God of War and Spider-Man to follow suit.
The 2024 Remaster: Is It Just a Cash Grab?
Fast forward to October 31, 2024. That's when Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered officially hit the shelves for PS5 and PC.
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A lot of people rolled their eyes. "The game already looks great," they said. "Why do we need this?" And yeah, I get it. The 2017 version still holds up remarkably well. However, when you actually sit down and look at the Remastered version developed by Nixxes, the differences aren't just subtle—they're transformative.
They re-recorded over 10 hours of motion capture for the conversations. In the original 2017 release, the NPCs were... let's be real, they were a bit stiff. They had "BioWare face" where their eyes didn't quite match their mouths. The Remaster fixes that. It brings the dialogue scenes up to the cinematic standard set by the sequel, Forbidden West.
Key Technical Shifts in the Remaster
- Foliage Density: The grass and trees now react to Aloy's movement more realistically.
- Terrain Deformation: Snow and sand actually move when you walk through them, a feature originally exclusive to the Frozen Wilds DLC.
- Lighting: The global illumination was overhauled to use the Forbidden West engine tech.
- Audio: Support for PS5's Tempest 3D AudioTech was baked in.
If you already owned the PS4 version, the upgrade was only $10. That's a pretty fair shake for what is essentially a visual overhaul that makes a seven-year-old game feel brand new.
Understanding the "Zero Dawn" Timeline
If you're new to the franchise, the naming can be a bit confusing. You've got the original, the DLC, the sequel, and the LEGO version. Yes, a LEGO version.
LEGO Horizon Adventures launched on November 14, 2024. It’s a retelling of the Zero Dawn story but, you know, with plastic bricks and more jokes. It’s a weird pivot, but it shows just how much Sony believes in this IP. They want kids playing it. They want adults playing it. They want everyone to know who Aloy is.
But back to the "real" dates. The Frozen Wilds expansion, which is basically essential if you care about the lore regarding the Blue Light and the Banuk tribe, dropped on November 7, 2017. It added a massive chunk of map in the north and introduced some of the most aggressive machines in the game, like the Fireclaw. If you're playing the "Complete Edition" or the "Remastered" version today, this content is baked right into the main map.
The Impact on the Genre
Before the Horizon Zero Dawn release date, the "open world" genre was starting to feel a bit stale. We were all tired of climbing towers to reveal map icons.
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Guerilla didn't totally get rid of that—Tallnecks are basically living, walking towers—but they made the interaction meaningful. You didn't just press a button; you had to figure out a platforming puzzle to get to the top of a giant mechanical giraffe.
The combat was the real winner, though. Most RPGs at the time relied on "hit it until the health bar goes down." Horizon asked you to be a surgeon. You had to use your Focus to find the cooling heart of a Thunderjaw and then use a tear-arrow to rip the armor plating off. It felt tactical. It felt earned.
Hermen Hulst, the former head of Guerilla who went on to lead PlayStation Studios, often spoke about the "DNA" of the studio. They wanted to move away from the linear corridors of Killzone and create something that felt "curated" despite being massive. They succeeded. The game sold over 20 million copies by early 2022. That is an absurd number for a new IP.
Common Misconceptions About the Launch
I see this all the time on Reddit and Twitter. People think Horizon was a flop because Zelda came out at the same time.
That is objectively false.
While Breath of the Wild took the "Game of the Year" awards, Horizon was a massive commercial success from day one. It was Sony's biggest internal launch for a new IP on the PS4. It didn't "lose" to Zelda; they both won. They proved that there was plenty of room in the market for two different visions of the apocalypse.
Another misconception? That the PC version was developed by Guerilla. It actually wasn't. The initial port was a collaborative effort, and the recent Remaster was primarily handled by Nixxes Software, the masters of PC optimization. Guerilla has been busy with the sequel and the upcoming Horizon multiplayer project.
How to Play It Today
If you're looking to jump in now, you have choices. It’s a bit of a "choose your own adventure" situation depending on your hardware.
On PlayStation 5: Don't bother with the original PS4 disc unless you want to save money. Grab the Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. The haptic feedback on the DualSense controller makes drawing the bow feel tactile. You can actually feel the tension in the string.
On PC: You want the Remastered version here too. It includes all the DLSS 3.5 and FSR 3.0 bells and whistles. If you have a 40-series NVIDIA card, the Frame Generation makes the game look like a moving painting.
On Steam Deck: Stick to the original Complete Edition. The Remaster is a bit too heavy for the Deck's APU to handle at high settings, whereas the original 2020 PC port is "Verified" and runs like a dream on the handheld.
Actionable Steps for New Players
If you’re checking this out because you just saw the Horizon Zero Dawn release date news and want to dive in, here is how you should actually approach the game:
- Don't over-level: The game gets easy if you grind. Follow the main quest until you reach Meridian. That’s when the world truly opens up.
- Use the Tripcaster: New players often ignore it. Don't. It’s your best friend for taking down big machines like Sawtooths early on.
- Read the Datapoints: I know, I know. "I don't want to read text in a game." Do it anyway. The story of how the world ended is told through voice logs and emails found in ruins. It is genuinely some of the best sci-fi writing in gaming.
- Check your version: If you have an old PS4 save, you can import it into the Remastered version on PS5. All your trophies and gear will carry over.
The legacy of February 28, 2017, lives on. Whether you're playing the original on a dusty PS4 or the shiny new Remaster on a high-end PC, the core mystery of why the world ended remains one of the most compelling hooks in the medium. Aloy's journey didn't just start a franchise; it set a new bar for how we tell stories in giant, beautiful, mechanical worlds.