Control Resonant’s 48-hour Early Access on PlayStation Confused – WGB
It takes a lot to confuse or confuse me when it comes to the video game industry these days. And yet, here I am, completely confused by Remedy’s decision to limit the early access benefit of the Premium Edition of Control Resonant to PlayStation owners only.
Enticing people to spend money so they can play a few days early is one of the industry’s newest ways to suck up wallets, and while it’s annoying, I’ve come to accept it. Major release bundles offer the ability to play the game early by paying more, and Control Resonant is no different. Besides that.
If you pre-order the Digital Deluxe Edition of Control Resonant, you get to play 48 hours early. So far, so normal. But surprisingly, this only works on PlayStation. Xbox and PC don’t get this early access period. They get everything else, but not that.
Remedy’s director of communications Thomas Puha confirmed this to X when a fan asked if the early access period was PS5 exclusive. Puha simply said, “Yes,” and did not give an explanation.
In addition, the price of the Digital Deluxe Edition remains the same on all platforms despite the lack of early access. Unless you’re in the UK, where the PS5 version is slightly cheaper, so you can 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 the Steam or PS5 versions don’t get, either – Play Anywhere. In other words, if you buy Control Resonant on Xbox, you also get the PC version, and vice versa as long as you buy it through the Xbox PC app.
I’d argue that Play Anywhere is probably less appealing to more people than playing a game a few days in advance, but it’s no big deal.
In fact, we should reverse the idea of monetizing early access in general. It is a stupid practice designed to catch the gullible and impatient. But that battle was lost a long time ago. It has become the norm. People have embraced it, and as we’ve seen with Forza, they’ll pay big to get those few bonus hours.
Maybe we can win this one, though?
Since there’s no explanation given, I’m going to assume this plot is some sort of marketing contract with Sony. Which is also weird. I love Control and I’m very excited to play Resonant, but by Sony’s standards, offering 2 days of early access is a bit fishy – not something I’d expect them to bother with. It’s not like anyone is going to buy a PS5 to pay extra to play Control Resonant 2 days early, so why bother?
And it doesn’t seem worth the small PR hit Remedy is taking.
How do you feel about this? Doesn’t bother you at all? Or do you think this is one of those little things that just keeps piling up?
I’m sure the game will still be great, though. It just needs to survive the bloodbath of the September release schedule.
