Control PS4 Owners Suddenly Get Ultimate Upgrade, Then Lose It

Publisher 505 Games has been scrutinized for requiring current owners of Control to purchase an Ultimate Edition to upgrade for next-gen. Previously, the company cited certain "blockers" as being the problem—which became stranger when a number of PS4 owners got seemingly upgraded overnight.

In a thread on ResetEra, several users report that their Digital Deluxe Edition of Control had suddenly been updated to the Ultimate Edition. Some were able to boot the game up as normal, while others still saw a price and purchase option for the Ultimate Edition.

Just as fast as it went up, though, the surprise upgrade was reversed. User Chaserjoey says that throughout the previous day, they were able to download Control from the Ultimate Edition page and it showed as purchased. Then, later, the store browser began once again asking them to add the game to their basket instead of download. "They flicked the switch to prevent access that they previously allowed," Chaserjoey writes.

505 Games drew some ire from pre-existing Control owners when it announced that only the Ultimate Edition, which launched on PS4 and Xbox One on Sept. 10, would have a next-gen upgrade path. Many other games have been offering next-gen upgrades for free for existing owners, but those who purchased Control once already would need to pay $39.99 for a new version to make the upgrade.

"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," the publisher wrote in a recent blog post reaffirming the decision. "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."

With some players seeing their already-owned versions of Control flip over to the Ultimate Edition, which could potentially entail a next-gen upgrade, it raises questions about what those blockers are. We've reached out to 505 Games for comment.