The Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 have been available worldwide for almost two months now, and early adopters are becoming more and more comfortable with their new consoles. While both consoles have released to early success, demand for both has shot through the roof, and both developers are scrambling to produce more consoles as quickly as they can.
The early strategy from both Microsoft and Sony could not be more different. Xbox has put all of its faith into compatibility and being able to play the games you want to play wherever you wish. This, alongside the successful Xbox Game Pass, has set the story for the next few years for Microsoft. Sony on the other hand has openly discussed their desire to focus on single-player, narrative-based story games .
One key difference between the two companies was their decisions on controllers, potentially the single most important item for a gamer. Whilst Xbox kept it simple and made subtle changes to their extremely popular Xbox One Controller, PlayStation went big, introducing a brand-new design called the DualSense, as well as shocking the world with 'adaptive triggers'.
The success of Sony's new controller seems to have caught the eye of Xbox, and recent developments from within Microsoft seem to point towards a potential redesign for their popular controller.
NEWS
In a post on the r/XboxSeriesX Reddit page , user F0REM4N has revealed that Microsoft has begun sending surveys to purchasers of their newest consoles, Xbox Series X/S, regarding features they would have liked to have seen on their new controller.
In the survey, participants were asked: “ if they were aware of features on PlayStation controllers that [they] wish were on the controller that came with this console:”
"We want your feedback!
As part of our desire to hear more from our users, you've been selected to take part in a survey about your experience using Xbox consoles...
...You've received this email because you've opted-in to contact from Xbox and/or Microsoft. For this survey, we'll process some personal data, such as your email address. Your email is used to send this survey and is shared with Alchemer only to email the survey invitation to you. We will anonymize all identifying information no later than 30 days after the survey closes. Your privacy is important to us and we're committed to handling personal data responsibly."
You can check out a screenshot from the survey below:
WHAT THIS MEANS
The early success of the PlayStation 5 has been easy to recognize, and it's understandable that Microsoft would be tempted to take pointers from Sony. Whilst players can appreciate the simplicity and simpleness of the Xbox Controller, the addition of a share button does not scream 'next-generation' in comparison to adaptive triggers, included on the DualSense.
The controller will lie in the hands of any player for hours on end, and if your console is able to offer a feature unavailable on other platforms, this can be the decider of where loyalties lie for gamers.
There is potential that the triggers are not the only feature that Microsoft has its eye on, however, with PlayStation including touch-pads and LED lighting on their controllers ever since the release of the PlayStation 4, Xbox may still be attempting to keep their controller as simple as possible.
If game-developers continue to adapt to features such as adaptive triggers in the way they have begun to so far, Microsoft would be smart to follow suit in some way, or they may run the risk of being left behind. If Xbox is able to improve on the DualSense blueprint, however, it will make for an interesting swing in the console war.
XBOX Writer