It takes a lot to confuse or baffle me when it comes to the videogame industry these days. And yet, here I am, completely baffled by Remedy’s decision to limit Control Resonant’s early access Premium Edition perk to PlayStation owners only.
Baiting people to spend money so they can play a few days early is one of the newest ways for the industry to suck wallets dry, and while it’s annoying, I have come to accept it. Heaps of big releases offer up the ability to play a game early by paying more, and Control Resonant is no different. Except it is.
If you pre-order the Digital Deluxe Edition of Control Resonant, you get to play 48 hours early. So far, so normal. But weirdly, this only applies on PlayStation. Xbox and PC don’t get this early access period. They get everything else, but not that.
Remedy’s communications director Thomas Puha confirmed this on X when a fan asked if the early access period was a PS5 exclusive. Puha simply said, “Yes,” and offered no explanations.
What’s more, the price of the Digital Deluxe Edition remains the same across all platforms despite the lack of early access. Unless you are in the UK, in which case the PS5 version is slightly cheaper, so you get to play early and save a few quid.
Control Resonant Digital Deluxe Edition (Xbox) – £58.49 / $69.99
Control Resonant Digital Deluxe Edition (Steam) – £59.99/$69.99
Control Resonant Digital Deluxe Edition (PS5) – £54.99 / $69.99
Let’s try to be somewhat fair, though, because the Xbox version actually gets a bonus that neither the Steam or PS5 versions get, either – Play Anywhere. In other words, if you buy Control Resonant on Xbox, you get the PC version as well, and vice versa provided you buy it through the Xbox PC app.
I would argue that Play Anywhere is probably less enticing to a lot of people than getting to play the game a few days early, but it’s not nothing.
Really, we should be pushing back on the idea of monetising early access in general. It’s a stupid practice designed to grab the gullible and the impatient. But that fight was lost a long time ago. It has become the norm. People have accepted it, and as we saw with Forza, will pay in droves to get those few bonus hours.
Maybe we could win this one, though?
Since no explanation has been given, I’m going to assume this whole ploy is some kind of marketing contract with Sony. Which is also weird. I love Control and I’m really excited to play Resonant, but by Sony standards, offering 2-days of early access is a very small fish – not something I’d expect them to be bothering with. It’s not like anyone is going to buy a PS5 just to pay extra to play Control Resonant 2 days early, so why bother?
Nor does it seem worth the small PR hit Remedy is taking.
How do you guys feel about this? Does it not bother you in the slightest? Or do you think this is another one of those aggravating little things that keep piling up?
I’m sure the game will still be awesome, though. It just needs to survive the September release-schedule bloodbath.
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