A recent kerfuffle over editions of the action-adventure game Control is causing some people to scratch their heads. 505's decision to upgrade owners of Control Deluxe Edition to Ultimate was confusing to some, and it came as an attempt to solve a problem that is now being made more tricky.
Previously, people who owned a PS4 copy of Control were told that they couldn't upgrade to the next-gen version unless they had Ultimate Edition, which has been out for only a few weeks. This frustrated a lot of players, as no one wants to buy what is basically the same version of the game again just to get access to next-gen play. And since games like The Witcher 3 are getting free PS5 upgrades, it seemed unfair to a lot of people that Control players wouldn't get the same.
Things got more confusing when Deluxe Edition owners got upgraded to Ultimate Edition without any warning, but when this news spread, they got downgraded again. This came as a major disappointment to players who were excited to download Ultimate Edition for free but were then faced with a price tag after 505 switched it again. Control is a bit of a sleeper hit, but a small fanbase is no excuse for the devs and publishers to give players so much whiplash.
The strangest thing about this situation is that the silent Deluxe to Ultimate upgrade shows that the developer and the publisher are able to upgrade people's version type, although they said the exact opposite in their blog post explaining why Control: Ultimate Edition was locking in next-gen upgrades. The wording of that post says they are "unable to offer an upgrade path" and made it sound like purchasing Ultimate Edition was the only way to get a next-gen upgrade, when it reality it sounds more like they were unwilling.
Unfortunately, Control isn't the only game making players pay for a next-gen upgrade, with the highly anticipated Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War charging players who want to play on Xbox Series X or PS5. It does cost money for the devs and publishers to port titles over to the next-gen, so it makes sense why they would want people to pay.
However, some may point out that since Ultimate Edition hasn't been available for that long compared to how long Control has been out, it's not fair to all the people who bought the game soon after it was released. Some of these people might have bought Ultimate Edition if they'd had a choice, and regardless, the blog post wording is sketchy to some people and there's some duplicity going on here that is concerning players.
Control is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Source: Push Square