Remedy Entertainment has released a surprising update for their critically acclaimed supernatural action game more than five years after its initial launch. The March 2025 patch for Control brings significant technical improvements and previously exclusive content to all players, breathing new life into the beloved title.
Previously Exclusive Content Now Available to Everyone
The 1.30 update makes several previously exclusive items available to all Control players. Most notably, the Dr. Yoshimi Tokui's Guided Imagery Experience mission, featuring voice work by legendary game designer Hideo Kojima, is now accessible to everyone. This mission was previously exclusive to PlayStation 4 Digital Deluxe Edition pre-orders, making this the first time PC players can officially experience this content without modifications. Additionally, three outfits that were formerly pre-order exclusives—the Astral Dive Suit, Tactical Response Gear, and Urban Response Gear—have been unlocked for all players. These cosmetic items can be accessed and equipped from the Control Point in the Central Executive Sector area.
Major Graphics Enhancements
The update introduces substantial graphical improvements to Control, which was already renowned for its impressive visuals. A new Ultra ray tracing preset has been added, providing more rays per pixel and higher temporal stability for even more realistic lighting effects. The update also brings official HDR support to the game, though some players have reported that the default implementation caps brightness without adding additional highlight detail. Fortunately, users can adjust HDR settings in the renderer.ini file to achieve different looks, with preset 2 reportedly offering the most dramatic improvement in visual range.
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| The newly enhanced graphics in Control now bring even more intensity to the gameplay, as depicted by the action-packed combat scene |
Ultrawide and High-Resolution Support
Remedy has significantly expanded Control's display capabilities with this update. The game now supports ultrawide monitors with aspect ratios up to 48:9, addressing a long-standing request from the PC gaming community. The update also implements proper screen aspect ratio fixes for ultrawide setups and adds support for rendering resolutions beyond 4K. Additionally, the update improves graphics adapter detection at startup, with automatic selection between DirectX 11 and DirectX 12, making the game more accessible to a wider range of hardware configurations.
NVIDIA DLSS Improvements
DLSS technology has received substantial attention in this update. Control now features DLSS 3.7 integration, offering higher temporal stability for smoother gameplay. The update adds DLAA (Deep Learning Anti-Aliasing) support and enables DLSS functionality for arbitrary resolutions. Technical improvements include fixed shadow resolution when DLSS is enabled and resolution-dependent mip map bias, which enhances texture quality, particularly when using the DLSS Performance setting. Film grain has also been reintroduced to DLSS Super Resolution, maintaining the game's distinctive visual style.
Technical Refinements
Beyond the headline features, the update includes numerous technical refinements. The SDR color depth has been upgraded from 8-bit to 10-bit, reducing visible color banding for a smoother visual experience. Texture streaming has been fixed, addressing potential performance issues. The update also corrects audio on cinematics and end credits to remove unintended channel mixing, with Remedy humorously noting, It wasn't the Hiss, it was us. Sorry. Several bug and crash fixes round out the update, improving overall stability.
Console Updates Coming Later
While the update is currently available for PC players on Steam (with GOG and Epic versions coming shortly), Remedy has confirmed that PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S editions of Control will receive the same update in the future. However, the studio noted they have only a small team working on these console versions and will space out the releases to address any potential issues that might arise.
Looking Ahead
This substantial update comes as Remedy continues work on the Control franchise, with both a full sequel and a multiplayer spin-off titled FBC: Firebreak currently in development. The latter is scheduled for release later this year, making this a perfect time for new and returning players to experience the original game with all its newly available content and technical improvements.