Control Publisher Explains Why Next-Gen Upgrades Won’t Be Free

control 505 games

Last week, 505 Games and Remedy Entertainment revealed Control Ultimate Edition – a bundle that combines all DLC and extra content that folks know and love into one neat package. It also comes with a brand new, upcoming DLC called AWE. Those of whom purchased every DLC for Control for PS4 and Xbox One however, including those who purchased the deluxe edition, won’t see a free upgrade to next generation consoles however (i.e. PS5, Xbox Series X). Unfortunately, that news was met with some bitterness from the community.

In response, publisher 505 made a public statement on the official Control website regarding the backlash. 505 explained, “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 realized it was even more difficult to upgrade our current user base to next gen with full parity across platforms with our year-old game.

control AWE alan wake

“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. Understandably, there are still some questions about what this means for those that already own Control on current gen consoles and we hope to clear this up.”

Seeing as there might still be some confusion about what it means to purchase Control for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, 505 Games broke it down here. Those looking to purchase said game for next generation consoles will not be able to purchase the base game by itself as the only way would be to purchase Control Ultimate Edition. However, if you already have the base game for PS4 and Xbox One, expansions packs, or the season pass, the game is backwards compatible and hat means Control owners can enjoy the game on the PS5 and Xbox Series X.

Neither the season pass, base game, or DLC can be purchased separately however. If you want to full, next-gen experience, you must purchase Control Ultimate Edition. 505 Games further explained:

To bring Control to next generation consoles in any form, we had to make some difficult decisions and those came in the form of creating the simplified Control Ultimate Edition product plan we have today. That we took a while in responding does not mean we have not been listening. We are sorry we couldn’t meet everyone’s expectations and we hope you will continue to support Control. We thank you for your support thus far.”

That’s certainly a lot to take in. I don’t imagine this will continue sitting well with those of whom were looking forward to playing Control and the AWE expansion on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. What are your thoughts on 505 not allowing free next-gen upgrades for Control fans? Do you think their explanation makes sense or do you think this is another plot for monetary gain?

Let us know what you think in the comments section below or start a conversation on Don’t Feed the Gamers Facebook page. To stay up to date on gaming and entertainment news as it happens, follow us on Twitter! Here are some of our latest:

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Hoi Duong2131 Posts

Hoi is an elusive figure at DFTG, whose favorite past-times include chillin' in the Fade, reading manga, watching anime, collecting novelty items, and gaming.

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