PlayStation reveals new features and UI for its PS5 Access Controller

By Giovanni Colantonio May 18, 2023

Sony's Project Leonardo controller sits on a table. — Sony

Sony revealed new details about its PlayStation 5 accessibility controller, which has been renamed from Project Leonardo to the Access Controller. A new blog post details what comes with the controller and offers a glimpse at the UI interface that players will use to customize it on the PS5.

Sony surprise revealed its “Project Leonardo” at CES earlier this year (Digital Trends named it the best gaming tech of the show). The circular pad features a unique design meant to make it easier for people with disabilities to customize controls to their needs. While it still doesn’t have a price or release date, Sony has opened a new website for its newly renamed Access Controller and shared new details on it.

It’ll ship with three different analog stick cap shapes and four button cap shapes (pillow, flat, wide, and overhang). It’ll also come with swappable markers so players can keep track of what they have mapped to each button. It’ll feature four 3.5 AUX ports as well, which players can use to connect their own specialty devices to the Access Controller.

UI for PS5's Access Controller shows how to remap buttons. — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Sony also shared a first glimpse at the PS5 UI that players will use to customize the controller. Screenshots show a menu that allows players to orient the controller a full 360 degrees, create different profiles, remap each button, adjust stick dead zones, and more. Players will also have the option to set toggle mode, which will hold a button down when pressed so players don’t have to (they can just click a button once in a racing game to toggle acceleration on, for instance).

The PS5 Access Controller doesn’t have a price of release window, but head over to its website to register for updates.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Giovanni Colantonio

Section Editor, Gaming

Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…

Gaming

Every rumored video game console: Nintendo Switch 2, PS5 Pro and more

A PS5 sits on a table.

History would tell you that 2024 isn't a year where you should expect a lot of new game consoles. We're smack dab in the middle of a console generation and we've already seen the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series S get upgrades during it. A wave of brand new consoles is likely four years away if the precedent set by previous generations holds up.

And yet, we're swimming in hardware rumors these days. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all have rumored systems in the works. On top of that, we're on the verge of an early second generation for portable PCs like the Steam Deck. Companies like Lenovo and Asus are also plotting follow-ups to their own devices. It's a lot to keep track of, with scattered reports sharing rumors about the status of each. To help you stay on top of the news, we've rounded up every major gaming device that's currently in the works. You can expect to see some -- if not all -- of these in the next year.
Nintendo Switch 2

Gaming

The PS5 Pro may be coming even sooner than we thought

Two versions of the PS5 next to each other.

An enhanced PlayStation 5, colloquially known as the PS5 Pro, is all but officially confirmed now, with a new report revealing that dev kits for the enhanced console are in the hands of developers and that Sony wants games for it ready by August.

Last month, internal documents revealing the specs of the PS5 Pro leaked. It won't offer a massive leap in power, but it will have a better GPU and some new machine learning technologies, and it should make things like ray tracing and stable frame rates much more possible with games made for the PS5. On Monday morning, The Verge released a report affirming the leaked specs and confirming that PS5 Pro dev kits are now in the hands of more developers.

Gaming

I was a PlayStation Portal hater. Now it’s one of my go-to gaming devices

A PlayStation Portal plays Marvel's Spider-Man 2.

In November, I reviewed the PlayStation Portal. I was mixed on Sony’s streaming handheld at the time, frustrated with a corner-cutting execution of a good idea. It seemed like a poor value compared to simply slapping a cheaper Backbone controller on a phone. As is often the case with tech reviews, though, I only had a short window to test it out where I was more focused on the more objective side of what the Portal does and doesn’t do. Would my feelings change when I was using it naturally?

I’ve gotten the answer to that question over the past few months. While I barely touched my Portal after reviewing it in 2023, it’s quickly become a go-to device in my home as of January. I’m now breaking it out at least once a week, finding some practical use cases for it. Though my overall assessment of it hasn’t changed, I have a more tangible understanding of where it can be a useful -- if superfluous -- PS5 companion. It’s a needless luxury, but one that I’m finding that I'm happy to indulge in.
Second screen
The PlayStation Portal’s launch just so happened to come right before a major life change that would shift my perspective. After living alone for three years, my girlfriend moved into my apartment last December. It’s been a natural change that’s working great so far. That shift does come with some lifestyle changes, though. We’re both crammed into a one-bedroom apartment, which means we’re sharing a tight space. We remotely do our jobs feet apart in the same room, and most evenings are spent lounging on the couch.