505 Games has addressed the backlash to Control’s next-gen upgrade policy in a new statement that commits to its previous announcement.
Control developer Remedy came under fire when it emerged you will not get a free upgrade to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions of the game – even if you own the base game and its expansions already.
A new “Ultimate Edition” package version of Control launches for PC via Steam on 27th August, and then the Epic Games Store, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 10th September.
You need this new version of the game to then get a free upgrade to the Ultimate Edition when it launches on PS5 and Xbox Series X a few months later.
The Ultimate Edition includes Control and its two expansions. That’s it.
This announcement met with a negative reaction from Control owners, who pointed out other publishers are offering free next-gen upgrades without issue.
Let’s Play Control: The Foundation DLC Gameplay – Rezzed Digital 2020 Watch on YouTube
Now, 505 Games has stepped in, insisting it explored all avenues before coming to its decision.
“We spent several months exploring all of our launch options for Control Ultimate Edition and no decision was taken lightly,” 505 said in a post on the Control website.
“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.”