We imagine that being disabled isn’t a whole heap of fun, but what would make the situation worse is not being able to partake in Hollow Knight: Silksong when Team Cherry inevitably gets their act together. In honour of Global Accessibility Awareness Day today, Xbox has announced the Proteus controller, a heavily customizable gamepad that’ll put an end to those worries. Your move, Team Cherry.
Proteus requires some cheddar
ByoWave is responsible for putting the Proteus controller together under the Designed for Xbox programme. It’s completely wireless and comprises a whole lot of cubes each with its own sets of buttons and joysticks that can be mixed and matched to get the best experience possible. This major focus on customisation means that the over 450 million disabled gamers out there can turn Proteus into something truly unique that benefits them.
As long as they’re willing to pay the hefty price, that is. There’s a $300 (roughly R5,400) price attached, and no guarantee that South Africa will be selling these locally, meaning an even greater fee is needed to get it over the border. Fortunately, disabled folk are notoriously well-employed, so this shouldn’t be an issue /s. Nice one, Xbox.
Read More: Sony’s customisable Project Leonardo controller aims to bring PlayStation 5 gaming to everyone
It’s also worth noting that Proteus doesn’t have a similar contraption for those who own a PlayStation console or Switch. Proteus will however be compatible with the Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and Windows 10/11 at launch, which should be happening sometime this Spring.
Microsoft also announced a few changes that are coming to its far more suitably-priced Adaptive Controller which sells for $100. It will soon support way more accessories via USB after a software update scheduled to roll out globally over the next few months (though Xbox Insiders will have the feature in the coming weeks).