Last week, the Xbox Adaptive Joystick and adaptive thumbstick toppers were unveiled as part of Xbox's ongoing efforts to make gaming more accessible. Born in partnership with the disability community, the team at Xbox recognized a need to create a single adaptable Joystick that could be used alongside the Xbox Adaptive Controller. During a demo of the new hardware at Gamescom, principal designer Chris Kujawski says work initially began on the Joystick back in 2022. Landing on the size and shape, as well as the configuration of its buttons, was an iterative process, with Kujawski showing us a picture from the workshop in his garage where he began developing various prototypes.
With the chance to see the Adaptive Joystick up close and try it out playing Forza Horizon 5, I also get to see the new Adaptive thumbstick toppers. The toppers - which come in a variety of shapes that can be attached to the Xbox controller thumbsticks - will be available as 3D printable files on the Xbox Design Lab website. Hearing from Kujawski and senior accessibility product manager Kaitlyn Jones, it's clear that flexibility and affordability are key aspects that drove much of the collaborative design process.
