Skip to main content

Design your own PS5 controller with this handy tool

If you’ve been hoping to customize your PS5 DualSense controller, you’re in luck. Scuf Gaming, a company known for creating high-end third-party gear, has released a new customization tool for its Reflex controller. PS5 owners can use an Xbox Design Lab-like tool to create their ideal gamepad, complete with custom parts.

Scuf’s standard Reflex is perhaps the closest thing the PS5 has to an Xbox Elite Series 2. The controller features mappable back paddles, grips, interchangeable thumbsticks, and more. The company’s newly released builder tool gives players a level of customization that’s yet to be seen in Sony’s DualSense.

Recommended Videos

Corsair Director of Gaming Product Management Jonas Ferry walked me through the process of creating a controller using Scuf’s web builder. You’ll start by choosing a faceplate. There are nine colors available currently and 23 custom patterns, including galactic designs and some more abstract options. Ferry says Scuf plans to add more options over time as it has with previous controllers. From there, players can alter the colors on anything, including triggers, bumpers, the D-pad, and more.

A custom PS5 Reflex controller made using Scuf's builder tool.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

While color customization is always fun to tool around with, Scuf goes one step further than a tool like Xbox Design Lab, which is strictly cosmetic. Players can choose custom thumbsticks that either have a domed or concave design, and there’s a short and taller variant of each.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

More intriguing, the tool lets players tweak the DualSense’s defining features. For an extra charge, players can swap out adaptive triggers for “instant” ones that’ll press down more easily. The tool also gives users the option to remove rumble from the controller entirely as a weight-cutting measure.

Naturally, heavy customization can come at a cost. A standard controller will run players $200, but the price can quickly balloon into the $300 range depending on how many custom colors and features are used. Even with the high cost, Scuf is offering a service that Sony doesn’t seem eager to create itself. For those who want more control over their aesthetic and playstyle, it’s a tempting service.

If you want to try creating your own Scuf Reflex, you can try the tool out for free on its website.

Giovanni Colantonio
As Digital Trends' Senior Gaming Editor, Giovanni Colantonio oversees all things video games at Digital Trends. As a veteran…
Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Microsoft Flight Sim might come to PS5 and Switch 2
A screenshot of a plane in Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Good morning and buckle up, folks: We're leaping onto the rumor mill today. As more and more news about the Nintendo Switch 2 emerges as its anticipated announcement approaches, a video game podcaster named NateTheHate has claimed that both Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 are coming to the Switch 2 and PlayStation 5. NateTheHate has been correct numerous times in the past regarding upcoming games, but we encourage you to take this news with the proper amount of skepticism. The idea of an Xbox title on the Switch 2 is somewhat far-fetched, especially since we still have no clear picture of the console's specs.

However, the Switch 2 might not need the onboard hardware to power titles like this. Xbox made an announcement in February 2024 to bring more of its games to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo, including Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, and Grounded. The idea is that the Nintendo Switch 2 could work with cloud game streaming; by providing an interface, gamers could play titles through the cloud that the Switch would not be able to handle on its own. Considering the demanding specifications of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, streaming is the only practical answer for how Nintendo's portable console could handle the game.

Read more
PS5 overheating: common problems and how to fix
Playstation 5 with controller in the foreground,

The PS5 overheating problem has once again become a hot topic amid the release of CPU-hungry games like Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered and Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Gamers have been here before. Four years ago, when Cyberpunk 2077 and Ghosts of Tsushima released, comment threads were full of cynical gamers questioning what next-gen truly means after their consoles had randomly shut down mid-gameplay. Plenty of the best PS5 games have been met with similar feedback over the years.

Fortunately, overheating doesn’t rank among the most common problems with the PS5, but gamers should know what to do to prevent it, especially with such graphically impressive upcoming PS5 games slated for next year and beyond. First, though, you need a proper diagnosis.
How to tell if your PS5 is overheating

Read more
Hyperkin’s new controller is a PS5 DualSense for your Xbox
A new controller called The Competitor from Hyperkin.

Hyperkin unveiled a new Xbox controller called The Competitor at CES 2025. The twist with this officially licensed third-party peripheral is that The Competitor's stick placement and general design looks a lot like that of the DualSense, the PlayStation 5's controller.

The Xbox Wireless Controller typically features offset control sticks, a hybrid D-pad, and face buttons where the letters on each button are colored. Hyperkin's new controller radically changes the stick placement and D-pad to match what the DualSense offers. Both control sticks are now located next to each other on the bottom part of the controller, while the D-pad has moved to the upper-left side of the controller, and each direction is an individual button.

Read more