The Horizon Forbidden West game, which had the second strongest retail launch on PlayStation 5 in the United Kingdom, was delayed to benefit the developers.

The reasoning is on Nu.nl and was translated to English on the ResetEra forums. Mathijs de Jonge, Horizon Forbidden West’s director, explained how the cross-gen title (due to Sony’s decision) needed more time, as the game was conceived as a game exclusive to PlayStation 5.

“That [crunch] happens very little with us. We are very aware of the disadvantages of crunching, so we take that into account a lot in our planning. For example, we said that there would be no work at Christmas and that everyone could have a two-week vacation. The company was closed. You couldn’t even go there to work. Some people like to keep working. They don’t necessarily want Christmas vacations. That’s allowed, we’re not going to stop that, but from the company’s point of view, we send a powerful message,” de Jonge wrote.

In the United Kingdom, looking solely at retail sales, Horizon Forbidden West launched at the top, becoming the second best-selling title in the country with physical copies on PlayStation 5 behind Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Compared to Horizon Zero Dawn, sales were down 35%, but digital (PlayStation Store) sales have significantly increased in the past five years. Sales can jump in the next few months, as there is a lack of consoles in the stores, and people don’t tend to buy retail copies of games for a console they don’t own.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which kept the lead for three weeks in a row, slid back to second place, and the podium still had a spot for Techland’s Dying Light 2: Stay Human. Sony and Guerrilla haven’t published sales data for Aloy’s sequel yet, but one of the biggest gaming markets show interest for Horizon Forbidden West. It should have outperformed Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, though…

Source: PSL, Gamesindustry