The Xbox Design Lab now will carry out orders for the new Elite Series 2 Controller. This comes just weeks after Microsoft unveiled the Elite Series 2 Core; a new, white model of the Elite Series 2 Controller that comes with a few less accessories at a reduced price.
First launched in 2016, the Xbox Design Lab is the one-stop shop for decking out your Xbox controller exactly the way you want it. It first started with custom designs for the Xbox One controller, with Xbox Series controllers being added after the launch of the Series consoles.
With the Elite Series 2 Controller, players can customize all of its special extra parts, including, the interchangeable d-pad, thumbsticks and paddles. Of course, the colors of the face buttons, triggers and shoulder buttons can also be customized. Even the ring around the thumbsticks can have custom colors.
Like Microsoft is so kind to remind us, the Elite controllers have the special feature of being able to set a custom color of the Xbox button via the Xbox Accessories app. So, you can set it to match the unique color scheme of your design.
Additionally, you can even slap a custom color on the Carrying Case and Charging Pack for the Xbox Elite controller. Indeed, you can really “make it yours”, as Microsoft puts it.
To design a custom Xbox Elite Controller, it’ll run you $149.99 USD for just the controller design itself. A custom engraved message can also be added for an additional $9.99. Adding in the paddles will bump up the price to $209.99. If you go with the “Everything Pack”, which includes all of the extra swappable buttons, paddles, Carrying Case and Charging Pack, that’ll add an additional $69.99 to the initial $149.99 MSRP.
Of course, more budget-conscious consumers are still able to shoot for the standard Xbox Wireless Controller, which is compatible across all modern Xbox consoles, and Windows PC. That costs just $69.99 to get it customized, and currently has a lot more color options than the Elite Controller.
Xbox’s announcement of the new customizable Elite Controllers is interestingly right alongside Sony announcing new details for the DualSense Edge; a similarly “pro-style” modular controller that’s designed to appeal to more hardcore consumers. That controller launches in just a few months, and will cost $199.99 USD.
Again with the similarities, the DualSense Edge comes bundled with a lot of the same extras as Microsoft’s offering. Clearly, these two products are squarely targeted at the same two niche markets. Considering they’re both pretty exorbitant when it comes to prices, the traditional options are certainly going to be more popular. Even so, they both seem to be great products to have for those who want a more fine-tuned gaming experience.
