Sony’s New Access Controller Reveals a Big Problem in Adaptive Gaming

For the past five years, engineers at Sony have been developing the PlayStation 5’s answer to the Xbox Adaptive Controller, finally completing a triumvirate of accessibility-focused controllers for all three current-gen consoles, including the Nintendo-licensed Hori Flex. The palm-sized, turtle-shaped Access controller arrives three years into the lifecycle of the PS5, bringing with it an impressive amount of customization and flexibility. Flexibility that costs $90 at launch—$20 more than a DualSense, which is included with the PS5 as standard. In other words, flexibility comes at a cost.

It’s a price reflected in its Xbox and Switch counterparts with the Xbox Adaptive Controller (XAC) slightly costlier at $99.99, though both are dwarfed by the Hori Flex’s retail price of $249.99.

These costs are incurred by a community which is magnitudes more likely to be impoverished. British charity Scope estimates disabled people experience an increase in the cost of living “equivalent to 63 percent of household income after housing costs.” That’s an average, in the UK, of £1,248 ($1,558) in extra costs every month simply for being disabled. For disabled players, “gaming is a crucial tool for their mental health,” says Vivek Gohil, a gaming accessibility consultant and journalist. Yet, finding the tools to play only adds to the already prohibitive costs that come with disability.

How the cost of these tools can mount is exemplified in the Access controller. With only nine inputs and a single analog stick, the Access controller can emulate only half of a DualSense’s inputs. Swipe gestures, haptics, and adaptive triggers do not feature. If you’re lucky, you may get away with pairing it with a DualSense. Chances are, however, players will need a second Access controller and a bevy of switches that connect to the controller’s four 3.5-mm jacks (compared to 19 found on the XAC, which also includes two USB ports). Immediately, the cost of the Access controller doubles.

It begs the question of how we balance developing tools for disabled players and making money from them. WIRED put the question to an SIE spokesperson, who replied, “We know cost is an important consideration for many players in the accessibility community.”

Pressed on whether affordable options might be on the way now the Access controller is finally realized, they offered: