Xbox Design Lab Controllers Return for a New Generation

During the Thursday “Xbox Games Showcase Extended” follow-up to their E3 “Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase,” a long-awaited announcement finally arrived (at 12:58):

Xbox Design Lab is back!

Prior to last year’s launch of the Xbox Series X|S, Microsoft shut the design lab down for a bit, no doubt in part to basically change things from their setup for manufacturing custom Xbox One controllers to manufacture controllers for the new generation of hardware. And here we are, with a few new options (Shock Blue, Pulse Red, and Electric Volt colors, plus templates for ABXY and the View-Menu-Share buttons) added into the already robust mix.

I already looked at the standard Xbox Series X|S controller, and — spoiler — it’s basically managed to edge out the Xbox One controller as my favorite. Meanwhile, my wife wasn’t so fond of the Xbox One controller, but likes the new model much more.

And the only reason I don’t use the Xbox Series X|S controller more is because she got me a controller from the Xbox One Design Lab for my birthday back in 2017, which I continue to use even now for my Xbox and PC gaming. You can see in the review linked above, as well as right here:

I created the color scheme, while she came up with the engraving. You can toy around with different combinations and view them from different angles on the Design Lab website, but unfortunately, you can no longer save designs as you could before.

These controllers can work wirelessly with Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Windows 10, Android, and iOS using Bluetooth (my computer lacks Bluetooth, but a USB cable does the trick just fine). They run on two AA batteries that will last about 40 hours, and most colors feature post-consumer recycled resins in them.

Whereas the normal Xbox Series X|S controllers will run you $59.99 USD/$74.99 CAD (with some special editions running a bit more), a Design Lab controller will cost $69.99 USD/$84.99 CAD, and it’s another $9.99 USD/$14.99 CAD on top of that if you want a laser engraved personalized message or gamertag (up to 16 characters). But, on the plus side, shipping is free! (Yes, in both the U.S. and Canada! Though there are applicable taxes to deal with…)

On that note: As of this writing, one thing for Canadians to be aware of is that for some reason, none of the links from the Xbox Canada website or social media posts will take you to the Canadian Design Lab website; instead, they take you to the U.S. version, where you are unable to toggle your country (for shipping) to Canada. I believe it was all one site before, so that may be where the confusion has come in.

So if you’re in the United States and want to start designing your own custom controller, click here. If you’re in Canada, you’ll instead want to go here (thanks, MobileSyrup and @Frankdehtank!)

Thanks for reading!

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David Oxford is a freelance writer of many varied interests. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

David Oxford

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

For a full list of places to find him online, click here.