Gamescom’s Opening Night Live was full of gaming announcements, but it also unexpectedly had a hardware reveal. Sony officially unveiled its pro controller for the PlayStation 5 called the DualSense Edge and it features many sliders and buttons that give it more functionality over the standard pad.
Sony’s post on the PlayStation Blog goes into detail in a way the sizzle real can’t. The Edge includes two back paddles and gives users total control over their button inputs. For example, players can remap buttons and change the dead zone and sensitivity of the analog sticks. Triggers can even be adjusted via sliding buttons so that they activate more quickly, too, and they also have a new texture on the tip. These changes can be saved on a handful of profiles, allowing users to quickly swap to different settings on the fly, which is useful for those who want specific setups for certain games. The dedicated Fn button also plays a role and lets users swap between profiles, adjust volume, and access the profile settings while in game.
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The hardware is also a bit different. Aside from some minor cosmetic changes like a more angular and black touchpad, black face buttons, and a black D-pad, it’s possible to switch out the analog sticks caps and the analog sticks themselves. There will be standard, convex, and concave sticks, which is a standard feature for many pro controllers. However, Edge users can take the whole stick out since they sit in their own module. This is likely to make it easier to combat stick drift, as a drifting stick in this instance wouldn’t damn the whole pad. These stick modules will be sold separately.
It’ll have all the features a regular DualSense has — adaptive triggers, a built-in microphone, haptic feedback, and more — and also come with a braided USB-C cable and carrying case. The USB cable even has a connector that helps lock the controller into the system so it is less likely to slip out.
It’s not clear when it will come out or how much it will cost. Sony said more details will come at a later date, though.
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Insider Tom Henderson previously leaked the existence of the Edge in June and even detailed the stick modules, trigger stops, and rear buttons. He also said that the prototype had grips, but those weren’t mentioned here.
This is also Sony’s first official foray into pro controllers. There have been other pro controllers for Sony consoles like Hex’s brand of pads, but Sony has yet to do that work itself until now. Xbox has been making its own elite controllers since 2015 and released the Xbox One Elite Controller Series 2 in 2019.