“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is the philosophy that Microsoft took with its next-generation Xbox controller, but the company could be introducing more serious innovations to its successor rather than just adding a new button and changing the directional pad. Speaking during a recent episode of the Kinda Funny Games podcast, Xbox head Phil Spencer admitted that he was a fan of what Sony has done with PlayStation 5’s wireless controller, the DualSense, which introduced two major innovations in the form of haptic feedback and dynamic triggers that could apply varying levels of force and tension to increase immersion. Spencer went on to confirm that the Xbox team was looking into improving the Xbox controller and that it would likely look at the DualSense for potential inspiration. It’s possible that some of these innovations will debut with the next iteration of its most advanced Xbox peripheral, the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller.
“We’re definitely thinking about different kinds of devices that can bring more games to more places. There’s probably some work we’ll do on [the] controller,” Spencer told the Gamecast crew as transcribed by VGC. “I think Sony’s done a nice job with their controller, we kind of look at some of that [and think] ‘Are there things that we should go do?’.”
Sources: Kinda Funny Gamescast, IGN