Microsoft Went Through 75 Console Designs and 200 Controller Concepts for Xbox One

Microsoft's Carl Ledbetter has described the design process of the Xbox One and revealed that the company went through 75 options for console itself, 200 possible revisions for the controller, and 100 concepts for the Kinect sensor.

Ledbetter, speaking to Microsoft's Jennifer Warnick, revealed he was tasked with creating the design of the company's next console and Kinect sensor in 2010. He described it as a formidable task: 

“There was this conundrum in that we had to meet and satisfy desires of core gamers and Xbox fans, and at same time we wanted Xbox to reach out and mean something to new people. From a design perspective, how do we make that happen? That was a big challenge.”

The design process took two years and Ledbetter and his team sketched and 3D-printed dozens of designs. He added: 

“We were extremely thorough. We were trying to push boundaries, to do something new and inventive, but there was so much at stake that we had to be really careful as well. The reason why there was so much at stake is that people really, really care about Xbox.

“We wanted to take every component of what people love about Xbox and amplify it,” he added, “but also make it disappear into the living room – to stay in the background, robust and reliable.”

He explained that his team experiemented with every contour and edge as well as the system's start-up sound but Ledbetter says it was the controller, in particular, which proved the most difficult. 

“There was never a direct ask for us to make it better. People were a little apprehensive, like, ‘We have a great controller. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.’”

Despite this, Microsoft's Zulfi Alam revealed in August last year that the company spent $100 million creating the Xbox One's controller. 

Sony took a significanty different approach to Microsoft; announcing the PS4 in Febraury of last year without showing off the console itself because the outer look of the system had not been finalised. The PS4's design was eventually revealed at E3 in June.