PlayStation 5 Will Receive An Accessibility Focused Controller, Codenamed Project Leonardo

Video Games

Jan 7

Very recently Sony announced the creation of an accessibility controller to give gamers with disabilities a customizable means of playing games. The controller project has been given the codename Project Leonardo. Ultimately, the controller should offer more gaming options than the current PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller.

According to a PlayStation Blog post, the creation of the controller was inspired by accessibility experts, community members, and gaming developers. The ultimate goal of the controller is to make the PlayStation controller more accessible who find the DualSense or other game controllers more difficult. Examples of things listed in the blog included people with limited motor control or people that have problems positioning their hands in a way that lets them reach as many buttons on a typical controller layout.

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In an interview with Wired, Sony Designer So Morimoto said “Our team tested over a dozen designs with accessibility experts, looking for approaches that would help address key challenges to effective controller use. We finally settled on a split controller design that allows near freeform left/right thumbstick repositioning, can be used without needing to be held, and features very flexible button and stick cap swapping. Because players can customize it according to their needs, there is no on ‘right’ form factor. We want to empower them to create their own configurations.”

At this time it is unclear when the controller will be released but the announcement comes out just under four years after Xbox released its Adaptive Controller in 2018.

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