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<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nUpdate<\/strong> (9\/11\/2020)<\/strong>: Yesterday, 505 Games accidentally gave PS4 owners who purchased the Digital Deluxe edition of the game full access to the Ultimate Edition as well, despite stating previously that this was impossible. According to the original 505 Games blog post referenced below, \u201cThe upgrade path that we are offering is only possible when upgrading from the same version of the game.<\/b>\u201d<\/p>\n But since people on the PlayStation Network were immediately given access to the Ultimate Edition for having purchased the Digital Edition, the strong implication here is that this\u00a0is <\/em>the same version of the game. 505 Games has since caught the error and reverted the problem, meaning that all the PS4 owners who briefly had the Ultimate Edition are still expected to pay $40 for it, even if they\u2019ve bought both DLCs and the base game already.<\/p>\n This verifies our suspicion that the only thing standing in the way of 505 Games offering upgrades to players is\u2026505 Games. The company\u2019s bizarre stance of \u201cIf we can\u2019t upgrade everyone, we won\u2019t upgrade anyone\u201d makes no sense. If a current PS4 or Xbox customer with physical media purchases a disc-less console this time around, they\u2019re going to know they can\u2019t play physical media any longer.<\/p>\n For everyone else, the problem is that 505 Games would rather you paid twice rather than once. The company has the right to sell its products in any way it sees fit and to monetize them as it wishes, but it\u2019s swimming against the tide on this one. There\u2019s no technical reason why backward compatibility on a console should be treated any differently than on PC. Going forward, the feature should be assumed, automatic, and ubiquitous. There is no justification for cutting console players off from a feature Windows PC features have been enjoying since the mid-1980s.<\/p>\n Hopefully, this is the last generation we have to deal with the question in the first place.<\/p>\n Original August 21st Story Below: <\/strong><\/p>\n The publisher of the hit video game Control, 505 Games, has implemented an exceedingly strange policy regarding next-generation upgrades and backward compatibility. Its recently published explanation has made nothing clearer.<\/p>\n Last week, 505 Games announced Control: Ultimate Edition. Normally, this kind of wrapup package would include all previous DLC content + the base game, and Control: Ultimate Edition does \u2014 but then the company went further. According to 505 Games, only gamers who pay for this<\/em> version of the game will get a free upgrade to PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X when those consoles are available. Everyone else \u2014 including everyone who bought Control and its Season passes on Day 1 and paid the highest price \u2014 is out of luck.<\/p>\n I\u2019m going to let 505 Games \u201cexplain\u201d why they made this choice:<\/p>\n 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\u2019t offer an upgrade to everyone, and leaving any one group out feels unfair.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This is a weak justification unless you find explanations like: \u201cIn order to avoid screwing anyone, we screwed everyone\u201d to be persuasive. 505 Games offers absolutely no explanation for what kind of barriers prevented it from bringing Control upgrades to all players. No other publisher has declared problems so far. What makes Control special? Absent an actual explanation for what the \u201cblockers\u201d were that the company refers to its post, this explanation doesn\u2019t really hold water.<\/p>\n But more to the point: Who is the audience most likely to be interested in upgrades to Control? The people who already bought it, especially those who plunked down full price for both the game and its season passes. Who are the people who are getting punished the most by 505 Games? The people who bought the game for full price and paid for season passes.<\/p>\n I\u2019m so excited, I have the vapors. Wait. No, that\u2019s just gas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There is an understanding in PC gaming that people who wait to buy a title are (presumably) getting a better deal by waiting. Not only does the price drop, but you gain whatever content updates and bug fixes have been developed while you waited. Outside of DLCs or expansion packs, however, companies don\u2019t charge for patches or improvements. We already know that Microsoft has a rule for Smart Delivery \u2014 namely, that games delivered via Smart Delivery can\u2019t charge for upgrades.<\/p>\n That, I suspect, is the actual \u201cblocker\u201d here, to borrow 505 Games\u2019 word. The company might not be able to launch \u201cControl: Ultimate Edition\u201d for Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, without violating Microsoft\u2019s ban on charging for content upgrades. How do you get around that problem? You sell the game again, as \u201cUltimate Edition,\u201d and you declare that only people who buy this version of the game can have a free upgrade. Bingo. Now you can charge people to upgrade to an Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5 without actually charging people to upgrade to an Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5.<\/p>\n Is this the actual explanation? I don\u2019t know. 505 Games won\u2019t explain itself. But it makes a lot more sense than the idea that there were some mysterious blockers preventing 505 from doing what multiple other publishers have already done \u2014 namely, making updates to the base game available for no additional charge to gamers who buy an Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5 via Xbox Smart Delivery.<\/p>\n If you do not sidegrade to the new Control: Ultimate Edition you will still be able to play the base game on the Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5 and you\u2019ll gain whatever improvements to frame rate that the new console delivers. This will be the first launch in which games make this kind of cross-generational leap from generation to generation, but in the era of gaming-as-a-service, this isn\u2019t asking for content you haven\u2019t paid for. It\u2019s asking for the continual support gamers have every right to expect in return for being willing to pony up on a regular basis for \u201cSeason Passes\u201d or various forms of DLC. Better to leave your game on the old platform than ship an \u201cupdated\u201d version that treats every single customer who previously was loyal to your product like a second-class citizen.<\/p>\n But hey. At least nobody is going to feel left out.<\/p>\n Now Read<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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