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Phil Spencer reveals Control is coming to Xbox Game Pass [UPDATED]

Xbox head Phil Spencer casually revealed during a Mixer stream that Remedy's Control would be coming to Xbox Game Pass sometime in the future.

TJ Denzer

December 5, 2019 9:55 AM

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UPDATE (12/5/2019 - 9:50AM): It would appear that Phil Spencer spilled the beans a little ahead of schedule on Control coming to Xbox Game Pass. The Control Remedy Twitter account recently reported that Phil Spencer's claim was incorrect and that they have no information to share on Control coming to Xbox Game Pass at this time. 

The Microsoft Game Pass Team also issued a statement in regards to Spencer's claim, doubly confirming that Control is not on the schedule for Game Pass at this time.

"We’re aware that Control was mentioned as coming to the Xbox Game Pass library and can confirm this was in error," the Microsoft team wrote. "While we are always updating the library and looking for new ways to provide our members with value and choice in their games, we do not have plans to bring Control to the library at this time."

It doesn't seem like Control is entirely off the table, but it seems abudantly clear that Spencer misspoke. Control is neither confirmed nor planned for Xbox Game Pass as of yet. Shacknews will follow this story with any further details or updates.

Original Story

The Xbox Game Pass has a lot going into it through the end of 2019 and into 2020. The already healthy list of games is being joined by plenty more through next year, but head of Xbox Phil Spencer just revealed an absolute zinger that wasn’t on any lists just yet. It would seem that Remedy’s Game Awards 2019-nominated Control is coming to the Xbox Game Pass at some point.

Phil Spencer spoke to Control on the Game Pass during an Extra Life Mixer Stream hosted on December 2, 2019. It was first noticed by video game news Twitter Nibel on December 5, 2019.

“I thought Control was really good,” Spencer said around the 44 minute mark of the stream. “It didn’t reach enough people, so I’m glad to see it’s coming into Game Pass so hopefully more people will play it because it’s a game that should be played.”

You can catch the full statement in the clip below.

Sounds like Control is coming to Xbox Gamepass according to the guy who owns a Scarlett consolehttps://t.co/7xX5ZmUakA (~44min) pic.twitter.com/QQCa3fHWUo

— Nibel (@Nibellion) December 5, 2019

There’s little argument to Spencer’s claim. Control is good. It earned a formidable score in its review here at Shacknews and also earned itself a number of nominations in The Game Awards 2019, including Game of the Year. What’s interesting is that Control wasn’t actually confirmed in any upcoming announcements for Xbox Game Pass, though December is getting itself a healthy new addition of games including My Friend Pedro and Tom Clancy’s The Division.

It could be a mistake on Phil Spencer’s part. Maybe Control is coming soon and maybe it isn’t and he misspoke. That said, it would appear that Control on the Xbox Game Pass is at least definitely in the works.

Had you played Control before? Would you play it if it were on the Xbox Game Pass? Let us know in the Shacknews Chatty comment section and stay tuned as we await further details on this story.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.