Well, the rumors were true. Control is coming to Xbox Game Pass. Starting December 3, you’ll be able to play the darkest third-person shooter in human history on Xbox consoles via Microsoft’s games-on-demand services. It’ll also join the list of playable Game Pass games available on Android.
On Sunday, a post on the Xbox Game Pass Twitter feed sparked wide speculation that Remedy’s Art Deco game would come. The red-out? The “redacted”? The “sinister red light”? C’mon. That would be Control. No doubt about it.
Of all the games making the leap from last-gen consoles to next-gen ones, none have had a more confounding journey than Control. Many games, including Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs: Legion, and Borderlands 3—not to mention a whole bunch of first-party Xbox games—offer free next-gen upgrades, so long as you’re making the transition in the same console family. That’s not the case with Control.
In August, publisher 505 Games announced that next-gen upgrades wouldn’t be available to all players. Only those who picked up Control: Ultimate Edition—a $40 version complete with the main game and both expansions—would be able to upgrade to a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S version of the game. Following a delay, the next-gen upgrades now won’t be available until sometime early next year, and it’s unclear whether or not those next-gen versions of Control will be available via Xbox Game Pass, or whether owners of an Xbox Series X or S will receive the Xbox One version of the game. According to today’s Game Pass press release, Control, not Control: Ultimate Edition, is listed as the game joining the service. (Kotaku has reached out to Microsoft for clarification.)
In other news, the gorgeous sci-fi adventure game Haven will land on Game Pass alongside Control. Among the 70 or so demos made available this summer, Haven was a standout. It’s well worth checking out, if only for the gorgeous art. Doom Eternal will also be available on PC the same day. And Yes, Your Grace, the stressful yet delightful kingdom management sim from earlier this year, will be playable across all Game Pass platforms.
You know the drill. Whenever cool games come to Game Pass, other games depart. On the way out are The Turing Test, Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker, Ticket To Ride, Untitled Goose Game, and MudRunner. All of those will be unavailable after December 15. As always, members of Game Pass can grab departing games for up to 20 percent less than the sticker price.