Xbox announced during its extended post-E3 showcase that it was bringing back the Xbox Design Lab for its controllers, and it’s adding the next-gen controllers to the customization options. It’s also adding some new colors and materials, meaning that you’ll be able to make new designs you wouldn’t have been able to before.
Design Lab is a website that lets you customize an Xbox Elite controller with specific color schemes. Here’s how Microsoft describes it: “Fans can color-customize nearly all the external parts of the controller including the body, back case, D-pad, bumpers, triggers, thumbsticks, ABXY, View, Menu and Share buttons. With Xbox Design Lab, you can customize a controller to match your creative style, tell a story, or celebrate a special moment. From there, you can further personalize your design with laser engraving to add your name, Gamertag or custom 16-character message. We’ll then hand-make your controller and ship it to your doorstep with free shipping.”
Microsoft announced last year that it’d be putting the Design Lab on ice before the launch of the Xbox Series X/S, in order to update it with options that included the next-gen controllers. Now it’s reopening the Lab, and it’s adding new colors, including Shock Blue, Pulse Red, and Electric Volt. It also adds that several of the color options will be made of post-consumer recycled materials: “These color options will reduce the amount of waste plastic that ends up in landfills and ensure we are all doing our part to take care of the planet.”
The customization options have always been fairly in-depth — I once used it to design a controller that’s the same color scheme as Bayonetta’s Scarborough Fair pistols. It lets you customize the shell colors, the button and D-pad colors, and the colors of the triggers and shoulder buttons. If you want a controller no one else has, the number of options on offer mean it’s likely whatever you build will be unique.
Source: Xbox Wire
