The Xbox Adaptive Controller by Microsoft was released on 4 September 2018. The controller was unveiled on Microsoft’s website on 17 May 2018, with the accompany phrase; ‘When everybody plays, we all win’. Users can make the controller fit their body in order to play with their feet or chin, for example, and use more than one device.

The Xbox Adaptive Controller, retailing at £74.99/$99.99, is the first adaptive controller for those with limited or specific abilities designed and manufactured at a large-scale by a leading technology company. Its acquisition into the Rapid Response Collection on its release highlights its place as a landmark moment in videogame play and demonstrates what design considerations and research can be undertaken to encourage inclusivity and access.

There are around a billion people across the world with a disability, including 13.9 million people in the UK. In the 2018 report ‘Changing the Game’ from Muscular Dystrophy UK, it was found that one-in-three gamers has been forced to stop playing videogames due to their disability, as those that had limited ability or dexterity in their hands were unable to use conventional controllers. The Xbox Adaptive Controller allows for users with specific disabilities to play videogames by using both the programmable pads on the controller, and to add their own custom ‘set-up’ that directly addresses their individual needs.

The Adaptive Controller is a rectangular controller made of a hard plastic ‘bone white’ body with dark grey features (such as the pads and d-pad), which match the colours used for all of Microsoft’s Xbox controller range. Two large circular programmable pads which are sensitive to pressure and allow for their function to be mapped according to need, and a d-pad enable it to be used as a standalone controller. The multiple inputs inset into the back of the controller lets gamers with limited mobility plug in assistive aids such as buttons, joysticks and switches to allow them to play videogames on Xbox and Windows 10 PCs. The controller can be connected to any Xbox One or Windows 10 PC via Bluetooth, features 19 3.5mm input jacks and two USB ports. Gamers can plug their third-party devices into these, with specific support for PDP’s One-Handed Joystick, Logitech’s Extreme 3D Pro Joystick and Quadstick’s Game Controller. The Adaptive Controller has an internal lithium-ion battery, which allows for it to be unplugged and used without a connecting power source. The profile button also allows for multiple users with the ability to switch between different set-ups and configurations quickly.

The design of the Controller was lead by Bryce Johnson, Inclusive Lead at Microsoft, and Chris Kujawski, Principal Designer at Microsoft (at the time of acquisition, Kujawski was Senior Industrial Designer) with the Microsoft Device Design team. The project started following an internal hackathon at Microsoft’s Ability Summit in 2015. Microsoft engineer Matt Hite – inspired by a custom gaming controller made by Warfighter Engaged, a nonprofit organization based in New Jersey, US, that provides gaming devices to wounded veterans – created a motion sensor for hands-free gameplay, winning the competition. Inspired by this contribution, later in the year another Microsoft team created a prototype for what would later become the Xbox Adaptive Controller. Microsoft’s earlier creation of the ‘Copilot’ feature in 2017, which allows two controllers to play as one (for example, if one player has difficulty with a certain button interaction, the other player can take over), also contributed to the product development of the Adaptive Controller. Microsoft filed for the patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the controller on the 30 March 2018, and were granted the patent (D848,423) on 14 May 2019.

In order to design a controller that would fit the needs of a large, multiple user base with various dynamic demands, Microsoft’s Device Design team collaborated and consulted with charities and non profits that specialise in making games accessible through design and advocacy. This included AbleGamers (West Virginia, US) and SpecialEffect (Oxfordshire, UK). The Device Design team also tested, prototyped and iterated upon controllers with patients at Craig Hospital in Colorado (US), which specialises in rehabilitation for those with limited or specific abilities. Due to the unique demands of this design process, the development took double the amount of time that is usually anticipated for controllers, turning a one-year innovation cycle into two.

Microsoft’s industrial designers aimed to make the controller look as close to Xbox’s existing range of hardware as possible, so as not to present the Adaptive Controller as an ‘exception’ and fit in alongside other equipment and consoles by the company. The packaging of the Xbox Adaptive Controller, designed specifically for access, has also been acquired by the museum. Designed by Mark Weiser, all parts of the packaging can be opened without using your hands through the use of cloth tabs and large plastic loops.

The Xbox Adaptive Controller has been acquired through Rapid Response Collecting at the point of the controller’s release on 4 September 2018. It joins the Museum of Childhood’s collection of games, controllers and ephemera, including a copy of Minecraft, a branded Minecraft sweatshirt and action figure of Minecraft’s ‘Creeper’. It also follows from the museum’s first major video games exhibition ‘Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt’ which ran from 8 September 2018 to 24 February 2019, which focused on the design process of videogames.