During its conference at the CES show in Las Vegas, Sony presented its brand new PlayStation 5 controller accessible to people with disabilities. The Japanese manufacturer is finally positioning itself in the segment, almost five years following Xbox.
Codenamed Project Leonardo, it’s really more of an accessibility kit for PlayStation 5 that Sony calls “ultra-customizable”. The Japanese brand therefore announced it on stage and later detailed on his blog in an explanatory article.
Accessibility is finally coming to PlayStation
Yes, this subtitle is a bit exaggerated. Accessibility already exists on PlayStation consoles, but mainly at the level of games developed internally by Sony and on the console interface. Software accessibility therefore.
Sony is now renowned for providing many accessibility options for people with disabilities in its games. Latest example: the fantastic God of War: Ragnarök. Its competitor Xbox had long been on the subject of hardware accessibility by releasing an adaptive controller in 2018, the Xbox Adaptive Controler.
Sony will change that in the coming months with its Project Leonardo. The company has worked for a long time with players specializing in accessibility, such as the major American association AbleGamers and Stack Up. This rounded customizable controller sits directly on a table or flat support.
Personalization at the heart of the experience
Project Leonardo comes in the form of a rounded hub in two parts. One reserved for the joystick (whose cap can also be personalized) and whose distance from the keys can be adjusted, and one on which the players will be able to install their buttons. These come in different shapes and sizes to perfectly match everyone’s needs. Sony indicates in its press release that several keys can be configured for the same function. It will also be possible to assign two functions (like R2 and L2) to the same key.
Sony specifies that a Project Leonardo controller can be used alone, associated with a DualSense or another Leonardo controller. The PlayStation 5 wireless controller can be combined with up to two Project Leonardo kits, offering many possibilities for customization. Players can save up to three control profiles on their PlayStation 5 console. Finally, the presence of four 3.5 mm ports offers the possibility of adding external accessories from other brands to the controller.
Project Leonardo is still under development. In addition to its price and release date not yet revealed, a question arises: will the Xbox Adaptive Controler and Project Leonardo be compatible with each other?
