It was announced today that Control: Ultimate Edition will be coming to PS Plus next month, giving PS4 and PS5 owners the chance to play the game as part of their monthly subscription.
Control On PS Plus
Sony recently revealed that Control: Ultimate Edition will be one of the three free PS Plus games for February 2021.
Control will come to the service alongside the upcoming Destruction AllStars, as well as Concrete Genie.
The Ultimate Edition includes the base game as well as The Foundation and AWE expansions.
PS5 users will also be able to utilize the Game Help feature on the console, which will give hints and walkthroughs to help players complete tricky puzzles and challenges.
Control On Game Pass
Earlier this month it was also announced that Control would be making its way to Xbox's Game Pass service for both console and PC.
This now makes the game available to all PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC players as part of a subscription service.
Xbox Live Competes With PS Plus In A Big Way
Earlier this week Microsoft announced that they would be doubling the price of Xbox Live, making it $120 per year, compared to the previous price of $60.
This caused immediate backlash online, which led to Microsoft not only reversing their decision but also removing the requirement of needing Xbox Live to play free-to-play titles such as Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Call of Duty: Warzone.
After the backlash, Microsoft released a statement saying,
"We’re turning this moment into an opportunity to bring Xbox Live more in line with how we see the player at the center of their experience. For free-to-play games, you will no longer need an Xbox Live Gold membership to play those games on Xbox. We are working hard to deliver this change as soon as possible in the coming months."
Previously players needed to subscribe to Xbox Live to play any multiplayer title, whether it was a paid-for title like Minecraft or a free-to-play game such as Fortnite.
One notable difference between the two competing systems was, PlayStation users don't need PS Plus to play F2P games.
This greatly incentivised players to choose PlayStation over Xbox as many players primarily play these f2p titles, which would save them $60 per year to play them on PlayStation.
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Although not the sole reason, it definitely helped contribute to Sony's dominance during the last generation.
This move by Microsoft will certainly help strengthen the selling points for their new Xbox Series X|S.
Although many players will end up subscribed as they push the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, which gives players access to over 300 games on console, PC, and mobile, as well as Xbox Live.
Power Plays
It seems like neither platform is messing around with this generation.
Sony dominated the last-gen, doubling the sales of the PS4 compared to the Xbox One.
They will certainly be looking to keep that dominance this time around, while Microsoft will be strongly focused on closing the gap and getting people to move over to their platform.
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In 2020 Microsoft made a huge power player by acquiring ZeniMax, the parent company of studios such as Bethesda and ID Software.
This move means that Microsoft now owns IPs such as The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, DOOM, Wolfenstein among many others.
Over the previous couple of generations, Sony made their own big moves by acquiring and creating their own studios, which went on to develop their flagship titles such as The Last Of Us, God Of War, Uncharted and many more.
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Some of these games have gone on to be hailed as some of the greatest of all time, with The Last Of Us 2 recently becoming the most awarded video game of all time, beating The Witcher 3 which has held the previous record for a number of years.
Both Platforms Cancel Each Other Out
Right now it seems that neither platform wants to give players a reason to switch sides.
Sony has The Last of Us, well Microsoft has The Elder Scrolls.
You don't need PS Plus to play Fortnite, you also don't need Xbox Live.
Both platforms give away multiple games each month for their subscribers, and both have a monthly subscription which allows players to access to a huge library of games to play whenever they want.
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When it comes to console specs, both are virtually identical, with only a handful of small differences, but the experience from a visual and frame rate standpoint is largely the same regardless of platform.
Pretty much what it comes down to is which exclusives a player prefers, and which controller feels nicer in the hand.