PlayStation Fans Aren't Happy About The Latest Free PS Plus Game
On Wednesday, Sony announced that Remedy's Control: Ultimate Edition would be available for free through PS Plus starting Feb. 2, coinciding with the release of the next-gen upgrade of the game. While this certainly is exciting news for anyone eager to try the Game of the Year contender, some fans are seeing this as the latest development in a series of seemingly anti-consumer decisions from 505 Games and Remedy, leading some gamers to call for refunds.
Those requests come from some of Control's most dedicated fans, who feel misled over a recent sale and Remedy's pricing decisions over the PlayStation 5 upgrade. The trouble started in August 2020, when 505 Games announced that the next-gen version of the game would only be available through the purchase of Control: Ultimate Edition. In a blog post, the company explained that Control: Ultimate Edition would be a separate product from the base game "to offer the full Control gameplay experience to new Control players in a single, easy-to-find product."
As a result, Control owners, including those who had already purchased the base game, expansions, and season pass, would not be eligible for a free next-gen upgrade. The only way for vanilla Control owners to unlock the new PS5 features (such as ray-tracing) would be to purchase the game again as the Ultimate Edition.
While news caused an uproar among fans, when Control: Ultimate Edition was discounted as part of a sale in early January 2020, some were willing to pay the reduced price in anticipation of the promised next-gen upgrade. However, when Sony announced just weeks later that PS Plus subscribers would receive the Ultimate Edition for free on the same day the next-gen upgrade became available, fans were angry. Sony's official refund policy states that customers have "14 days from purchase to request a refund." However, the sale window for Control: Ultimate Edition fell just outside of that. One Twitter user commented that Sony would not grant their refund because they had purchased the game 16 days ago, rather than 14 or less.
While these developments are frustrating for fans of Control, hopefully Sony can find some middle ground with its customers. The console maker delivered refunds to gamers who purchased Maneater in the month before the game was made available on PS Plus and helped customers get their money back after Cyberpunk 2077 underperformed on the PlayStation 4. For now, however, it seems that Control's biggest fans are being left out of the loop.