We were so close to cross-gen game upgrades that there was a simple and painless ordeal across the board, but now 505 Games has gone and announced that while Control coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X, people who already have the current version of the game will have to buy it again on next-gen.
The publisher announced a new $ 40 “Ultimate” edition of the game today comes to PS4, Xbox One, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. It will include both the current Foundation DLC and upcoming Alan Wake expansion, but is otherwise functionally identical to the version of Control people already purchased (for it was very good) back in 2019. Only the Ultimate Edition is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X, and only people who purchase that version of the game can upgrade for free to the “next-gen optimized version” when it becomes available .
When asked for comment, developer directed Remedy Entertainment Kotaku to 505 Games, which did not respond immediately.
I’ve heard some people hear Smart Delivery, Microsoft’s PR term for the fact that cross-gen upgrades for first-party games will be free and automatic, a marketing gimmick. After all, PS4 games like that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla also lets players upgrade to the next-gen version for free. And based on the number of third-party publishers like Ubisoft and EA that appeared to follow (minus some small caveats around games like Madden NFL 21), it might have already become the unspoken industry standard, making Smart Delivery an unbelievable hotspot.
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Control Ultimate Edition shows that is not the case. It is not a complete loss. After all, if both Sony and Microsoft’s back-gen backwards compatibility plans fall into place, people will still be able to play their existing versions of the game on their new hardware (and in the process ask questions about what exactly is a “next-gen” “Version of Control means even). Still, it felt fun for that short bit when every game seemed to work from the same, generous vision of free and seamless cross-gen upgrades.
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