AT&T gives mobile subscribers Control

AT&T customers can now play a cloud-streamed version of Control Ultimate Edition in their browser that uses the white-label version of Google’s Stadia technology. Customers on an AT&T postpaid plan can check out the game by visiting this link on a computer or mobile device and entering their phone number and billing zip code to jump in.

Control is the second experience AT&T offers using Stadia’s tech, which Google offers under the brand Immersive Stream for Games. The first was Batman: Arkham Knight, which launched for AT&T subscribers last year, though that works only on a computer. AT&T’s Control offering is also a full game, the company confirmed to The Verge, and since it’s the Ultimate Edition, that means you’ll get access to all of the game’s post-launch content.

AT&T is also teasing potentially bigger plans for cloud gaming. In a post about the Control announcement, the company says:

Where could this lead to? In the future, we imagine publishers could utilize the combination of 5G connectivity and cloud streaming technology to offer limited time play sessions directly from a search result. This gives gamers the option to try before they buy. If they move forward with the purchase, their progress will be saved in the cloud, so they can pick up right where they left off on the downloaded version.

This kind of sounds like AT&T might make its own game store where you can try demos of games streamed right from the cloud, and if you decide to buy the full game, your progress will be carried over. That’s not something AT&T has now. And it’s not the most novel idea — Gaikai, a cloud gaming company that was bought by PlayStation, had a similar pitch — but we’ve asked AT&T if it can share more details.

Correction May 24th, 11:54PM ET: We incorrectly said that AT&T’s streamed version of Batman: Arkham Knight is a demo. It’s the full game. We regret the error.