The infamous "Aloy falling through the map" bug in v1.0.37 was caused by slow texture streaming on HDDs (though SSDs are required). This patch increases the priority pool for geometry loading.

The primary driver of the version jump to 1.5.80 was the integration of the "Burning Shores" DLC. This expansion transported protagonist Aloy to a volcanic, post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. Technically, this required the executable to support:

If you have the old 1.0.37 version installed (either from a physical disc or an early digital backup), and you’ve obtained the legitimate cumulative Horizon Forbidden West update 1.0.37 - 1.5.80.exe, follow this guide:

Given the size and utility of the Horizon Forbidden West update 1.0.37 - 1.5.80.exe, malicious actors often distribute fake versions containing ransomware or coin miners.

Safe Sources:

Unsafe Sources:

The executable size for 1.0.37 hovered around 108 MB (compressed). Players quickly began reporting crashes on AMD Radeon RX 6000/7000 series cards due to specific texture filter commands—setting the stage for the patch marathon to come.

The transition from 1.0.37 to 1.5.80 was largely seamless for the end-user due to the Decima Engine’s efficient patching architecture.

Silently, the later exe files added more robust .DAT file loading. Modders on NexusMods have noted that the 1.5.80 exe no longer crashes when loading custom armors or reshade presets.

These final updates coincided with the Burning Shores DLC release on PC.

By version 1.5.80, the executable had grown to 124 MB—a 15% size increase due to embedded microcode for multiple GPU architectures and expanded shader databases.