Xbox Design Lab controller option explosion just made your decision even tougher
Microsoft announced some new additions to Xbox Design Lab customization options today. When the service re-launched earlier this year with Xbox Series X gamepads, it was missing some customization options it had previously. Those are now available once more, along with some entirely new options and designs inspired by four big games.
Grips and metallic finishes back on the menu
Returning to Xbox Design Lab today is the option to outfit your custom controller with rubberized grips or a metallic finish for specific controller components. Prospective buyers can choose to outfit their controller with rubberized grips both on the sides and back of the gamepad, though those grips only come in one color (black).
The d-pad and triggers can be given a metallic design as well. There are 19 colors in all, according to Microsoft, making for quite the long list of options: Sterling Silver, Pewter Silver, Gunmetal Silver, Abyss Black, Retro Pink, Deep Pink, Oxide Red, Zest Orange, Gold, Electric Volt, Velocity Green, Glacier Blue, Dragonfly Blue, Mineral Blue, Photon Blue, Midnight Blue, Regal Purple, Nocturnal Green, and Warm Gold.
In addition to those returning customization options, Microsoft has also launched some new stuff as well. As revealed in that list above, Dragonfly Blue is an entirely new color that can be applied to some components. Microsoft also says that Military Green and Electric Green have been replaced by Nocturnal Green and Velocity Green, respectively.
Finally, there are four pre-made controller designs (pictured in the gallery above) inspired by Forza Horizon 5, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Battlefield 2042, and Riders Republic that customers can use as a jumping-off point for their own custom controllers. On their own, the controllers look pretty good, though each one comes with rubberized side and back grips along with metallic d-pads and triggers, so customers may want to tweak those before checkout.
New options come at a premium price
That's because rubberized grips and metallic components add a decent amount of money to the overall cost of an Xbox Design Lab controller. For example, rubberized grips for the sides and back cost $5.99 each, while metallic d-pads and triggers cost $3.99 each. That doesn't seem like much, but when you consider that Xbox Design Lab controllers start at $69.99, it's possible to craft a controller that costs just a few cents shy of $100 – assuming that you also opt for a $9.99 engraving on it.
That's a pricey controller for sure, but that's if you choose every premium option available. Mixing and matching those premium options will, obviously, save you some cash, resulting in a custom controller that's still expensive but not triple-digit expensive.
Xbox Design Lab has proven to be a popular service for Microsoft, so if you've ever wanted to create a controller that's uniquely yours, you now have more options in that endeavor. These new options are live on the Xbox Design Lab right now, but just a head's up: At the time of this writing, the website seems to be having a few issues, so you may have to refresh a few times before any changes you make to your controller are applied.