Sony’s Project Leonardo, first revealed at CES this year, now has a name: the Access controller. Built for the PlayStation 5, it’s an all-new, highly-customizable accessibility controller kit. It’s designed to help players with disabilities to play games more easily, comfortably, and for longer periods of time. The Access controller is being developed in collaboration with accessibility experts, and features a wide array of swappable button and stick caps. This way, players can freely create different layouts that work specifically for them.
Here’s what is included with each Access controller:
- Analog stick caps (standard, dome, and ball stick cap)
- Button caps in different shapes and sizes (pillow button caps, flat button caps, wide flat button caps that cover two button sockets, overhang button caps that benefit players with smaller hands, curve button caps that can be purchased if placed along the top, or pulled if placed along the bottom of the controller, and swappable button cap tags so players can easily mark which inputs they map to each button.) Players will be able to use the Access controller on flat surfaces, orient it 360 degrees, or even secure it to an AMPS mount or tripod. The distance of the analog stick from the controller can also be adjusted.
- A total of four 3.5mm AUX ports can also be found on the controller, allowing players the ability to integrate their own specialty switches, buttons, or analog sticks.
Sony PlayStation also released some screenshots of the controller’s new UI. Players will be able to create control profiles for different games or genres, with the ability to map different inputs to the various buttons, toggle buttons on or off, and even map two different inputs onto the same button. In addition, up to two Access controllers and one DualSense or DualSense Edge wireless controller can be used together as a single virtual controller. The controller also has a toggle mode, that essentially works like a caps lock key on a keyboard. For example, enabling toggle mode for the acceleration input means the car will automatically accelerate without needing to hold the button down.
Pricing information for the Access controller has not yet been announced, and currently, it seems to be exclusive to the PlayStation 5.
