505 Games has confirmed that the physical release of Control: Ultimate Edition will need a one-time internet connection on Xbox systems.
- READ MORE: Why are fans so pissed at 505 Games?
As discovered by Eurogamer, an FAQ page reveals that the disc-based Xbox version of the game requires an internet connection in order to be played. 505 Games said its because “all the latest expansions [are] over 50gb” and were thus “unable to fit everything on the Xbox disc”.
As a result, a portion of the game will require a one-time connection to the internet in order to finish the installation of the game. However, PlayStation 4 users will not need to do the same, as its disc-based version contains the complete experience “due to compression and other variables”.
Owners of Control: Ultimate Edition will also get to upgrade to the game’s upcoming next-gen version when it is released next year. However, this was not without some controversy, as the publisher also stated that only owners of the Ultimate Edition would receive the free upgrade.
“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,” 505 Games explained. “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.”
Despite the company’s reasoning, Control: Ultimate Edition was later accidentially released as a free upgrade for a number of PS4 players who only owned the base game or eason pass. The option was swiftly removed, as the download button quickly disappeared and was replaced with the purchase button.
Control: Ultimate Edition is available now for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. A next-gen version is also scheduled for sometime in 2021.