505 Games tries to explain why only Control Ultimate Edition is next-gen

An explanation. Kind of.

What you need to know

• 505 Games recently revealed that only the upcoming Control Ultimate Edition would get a free next-gen upgrade.
• There is no upgrade path for the standard edition of Control.
• 505 Games has tried to further explain this decision.

Recently, 505 Games and Remedy Entertainment announced Control Ultimate Edition, a version of the game that included all the DLC and a free upgrade to the PS5 or Xbox Series X versions. Unfortunately, this upgrade does not apply for anyone who has already bought the standard edition of the game, even if they’ve also purchased the expansion pass.

Given the prevelance of free upgrades for so many other titles, some fans voiced their complaints about this approach on social media. 505 Games has responded with a blog post purporting to explain why this approach was taken.

We spent several months exploring all of our launch options for Control Ultimate Edition and no decision was taken lightly. While it is challenging bringing any game to next gen platforms, we quickly realised it was even more difficult to upgrade our current user base to next gen with full parity across platforms with our year-old game.

Every avenue we pursued, there was some form of blocker and those blockers meant that at least one group of players ended up being left out of the upgrade for various reasons. As of today, we can’t offer an upgrade to everyone, and leaving any one group out feels unfair. We understand that is not what you want to hear.

505 concludes by confirming the standard edition of Control will still be playable via backward compatibility on next-gen consoles and that the team is “sorry we couldn’t meet everyone’s expectations.”

Xbox has instituted a program called Smart Delivery, allowing games to be ugpraded for free at no cost. Meanwhile, PS4 titles like Far Cry 6, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Kena: Bridge of Spirits are all being upgraded to the PS5 version for free. It’s currently unclear exactly what restrictions and “blockers” 505 Games is referring to.

The AWE expansion for Control is introducing Alan Wake and kicks off the Remedy Connected Universe. It’s set to release on August 27. Meanwhile, Control Ultimate Edition releases on September 10 for Epic Games Store, Xbox One and PS4, with the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions coming later this year.

The Oldest House

Control

• $60 at Best Buy
• $45 at Walmart

Enter the Bureau

Control tasks players with entering the Oldest House as Jesse Faden, the new Director of the Federal Bureau of Control, managers of the unnverving and weird artifacts of the world.