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[Astray]

Xbox Design Lab Has Now Been 'Temporarily On Hold' For Six Months

A strange situation

www.purexbox.com

Would be a massive shame if they shuttered it, one of the cooler things about Xbox imo.

 

[Sebastian1295]

When asked to comment on this, microsoft replied with this statement.

 

[clarky]

At this point what isn't on hold apart from COD skins?

 

[Magic Carpet]

Does that mean they are about to announce a new controller design?

 

[Kacho]

Can't imagine many people are using it at this point. I bought a couple during the Xbox One era, along with special edition controllers and it got out of hand. I don't need 100 controllers lying around.

 

[Rush2112]

What mindless fanboy would want this after all the news is beyond me.

 

[Drew1440]

Shame, they're generally one of the better PC compatible controllers out there.

 

[Deerock71]

Now introducing: The Xbox Saturn. What are you waiting for? It's been out for a week!

 

[Certinty]

Probably let go of everyone working in that part of the business.

 

[Baemono]

Isn't this the service that allows you to create custom controller ?

Cause if so, if they lose their ways with custom controller, they lose their way

 

[Connificent]

MS sells more controllers than consoles

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Isn't this the service that allows you to create custom controller ?

Cause if so, if they lose their ways with custom controller, they lose their way

Yes, it was pretty popular with fans

 

[MandingoMcThickens]

What mindless fanboy would want this after all the news is beyond me.

Spoken like a true fanboy.
I didn't know these peripherals *only* work with Series S|X.

 

[Darsxx82]

It will surely return with the announcement of a new controller (Sebile?). Meanwhile, there are in-house and special editions Xbox controller that are announced periodically.

 

[Magic Carpet]

MS sells more controllers than consoles

Gonna go out on a limb and say this is true of every console ever made that has controllers.

 

[Astray]

What mindless fanboy would want this after all the news is beyond me.

There's a surprising market of controller enthusiasts and people who want controllers that match their set-ups.

 

[HJuggernaut]

it was kinda meh for me, MS didn't have games so they pushed this extra shit

 

[Jack Videogames]

At this point what isn't on hold apart from COD skins?

Layoffs

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

MS sells more controllers than consoles

You mean like every other console manufacturer does?

 

[clarky]

You mean like every other console manufacturer does?

Who in their right mind would buy an extra Duelsense?*

*runs for cover.

 

[Pallas]

MS sells more controllers than consoles

Considering most modern consoles with a controller, and you probably want to buy yourself an additional controller, add replacements to the equation …

You get the picture.

Never had a Xbox lab controller myself but I've gifted them before. Wonder what the hold is for.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Who in their right mind would buy an extra Duelsense?*

*runs for cover.

Not me nor did I buy that silly Edge Pro controller

 

[Muffdraul]

I bought one three years ago when I finally got a Series X. The R bumper took a shit after like two weeks. I figured "Eh, I got a rotten egg. I'll return it for a replacement." Second one did the same exact thing. Then I bought a normal Xbox controller which still works perfectly three years later. Maybe just my own anecdotal bad luck, but maybe meh.

 

[Fake]

Six Months? I swear I read 'foverer'.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

I can honestly say that in 40 years of gaming I have never looked down at a control pad and thought 'This bit needs to be purple'

 

[Connificent]

You mean like every other console manufacturer does?

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

I mean there is a good reason more Xbox controllers are sold vs Dualsense because many people, myself included, vastly prefer the Xbox controller

For one having huge hands I prefer the stick layout of the Xbox as all PS controllers make me feel like I am playing with a kids toy as the tips of my thumbs rub each other a lot

 

[KenaiPhoenix]

I always wanted to use it, but they never shipped to were I live, so i just bought a "pre design" model.

Anyways this speaks about how MS is on the hardware aspect. Another evidence for people claiming that this is not their "dreamcast moment"

 

[joeygreco1985]

The idea was cool but build quality of the current crop of Xbox controllers sucks, so it's not worth it anymore. I got a design lab controller in 2018 or so, the right bumper broke after almost a year

 

[ReBurn]

I managed to get one right before it went on hiatus. I'd like to get one more.

 

[phant0m]

They've fired what? Like 10,000 people in the last 6 months?

Shame too, my design lab controller from like 2016 is finally toast and I was gonna get another (I use on PC). Bought an 8bitdo Ultimate 2 instead

 

[GHG]

I mean there is a good reason more Xbox controllers are sold vs Dualsense because many people, myself included, vastly prefer the Xbox controller

For one having huge hands I prefer the stick layout of the Xbox as all PS controllers make me feel like I am playing with a kids toy as the tips of my thumbs rub each other a lot

 

[powder]

This is so weird. How are they gonna close all their shit down and then come back a year later like "Ok everyone, we're BACK, with the all new next-next-gen XBOX 69"

None of this makes sense. They're killing off their base and are doing a half assed job of seeking out new players. How are they trying to convince anyone that they're not doing anything except winding down the brand?

 

[Karim]

Xbox Design Lab Has Now Been 'Temporarily On Hold' For Six Months

A strange situation

www.purexbox.com

Would be a massive shame if they shuttered it, one of the cooler things about Xbox imo.

"say gamepass is profitable bitcha"

 

[poodaddy]

That's a bummer, it's a great program. I got my daughter a custom controller around 5 years ago and it's still her main driver today, she uses it daily. I guess Microsoft is just walking away, it really feels that way. It's honestly a bummer. The industry needs as much competition as it can get, and I really feel Microsoft didn't quite try hard enough and then decided to give up after committing to a hoard of terrible ideas.

Well, I hope 8bitdo or the like starts up a similar service at some point then. I really feel there's a decent demographic to serve with custom controllers, and whoever deploys that at the scale of what Xbox did with this program is likely to make a good couple bucks off it, assuming it hasn't already been done by a reputable controller manufacturer, if it has then I'm an idiot but I don't know a comparable service. Sony and Ninty should start up similar services too, I mean why not?

 

[ADiTAR]

Can't imagine many people are using it at this point. I bought a couple during the Xbox One era, along with special edition controllers and it got out of hand. I don't need 100 controllers lying around.

Maybe try making them stand.

 

[ReBurn]

The people who bought the black one must not have seen the purple one first.

 

[Nydius]

I think the biggest issue with design lab is that they were competing with themselves — specifically all the official variants Xbox released into normal retail channels. Those controllers go on sale pretty frequently, which undercuts design lab.

I've goofed off with designs in design lab and made some fun concepts, but I've never pulled the trigger on a purchase because I can't justify the price. Not when I can buy OEM variants for less. Right now for instance, Amazon has the Cypher variants for $65, which is a lot less than design lab, where the absolute basic model started at $70. Adding the same rubberized grips as the Cypher adds more to the price.

The customization options haven't really been worth the higher cost to me.

 

[adamsapple]

Would have helped if OP posted the actual reason it's down instead of just a link.

 

[DavidGzz]

What mindless fanboy would want this after all the news is beyond me.

Xbox 2028, bro. Idc if there is a list(of concrete plans) or not.

 

[CoreyFlawless]

Damn, bout the only thing I buy the most from ms. Mostly use them for my pc now

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Xbox has a ton of third party options.

Never seen anything on PS.

 

[Astray]

I mean there is a good reason more Xbox controllers are sold vs Dualsense because many people, myself included, vastly prefer the Xbox controller

For one having huge hands I prefer the stick layout of the Xbox as all PS controllers make me feel like I am playing with a kids toy as the tips of my thumbs rub each other a lot

I'm currently working with some others on a Controller OT, and I think if anything, the Xbox controller is under tremendous market pressures.

- Dualsense has more features and has become more attractive to PC gamers, especially now that Sony is beginning to market it to them too.
- Chinese brands have basically aped the Xbox controller design and are going ham on both the features angle as well as the economics side of things too.

They really needed to refresh the controller this gen and add features to it, not doing so was a lethal mistake imo.

 

[Alan Wake]

I bought an Elite 2 controller from the Design Lab and was very happy with it. Of course it failed after a while.