- Patent Filed by Sony Revealed ‘Buttonless’ Controller Design
- It would use touchscreens instead of traditional buttons, directional pad, etc.
- Elements can be resized and moved as desired
Sony has patented a controller design that appears to remove buttons altogether, along with the D-pad and thumbsticks.
The patent (spotted by Insider Gaming) was filed on January 27, 2026 and is now available to the public. It details a “buttonless” controller which, as the URL indicates, could be an early concept for a potential PlayStation 6 controller rather than something for the PS5. Take this with a pinch of salt, of course, because patents often don’t lead to a fully realized product.
The patent images depict a controller with two large touchscreens, located where the D-pad, face buttons, and thumbsticks would be. The touchscreens are located to the left and right of the pad, with a central “push button” separating the two.
The patent also shows that the usual physical features of a controller are now elements that can be interacted with on the touchscreen. Players could assign button, d-pad, and stick elements, as well as move and resize them according to their preferences. An image shows that elements can even overlap.
The Background section of the patent provides insight into how such a product could benefit the end user, from an accessibility perspective.
“One of the disadvantages of existing designs [of controllers] may be the fixed layout,” it reads. “As an example, a fixed layout may be too small or too large for a user. Likewise, a fixed layout may not be comfortable for a user. ยป
He goes on to state that: “There is a desire for game controllers to allow for different configurations and accommodate hand sizes without having to customize or manufacture the size of the controller.”
We’ve certainly seen proof of this on PlayStation itself. The PlayStation Access controller, for example, is an accessibility-focused device that is highly modular and allows for a multitude of layouts and configurations.
Contemporary controllers also adopt more advanced features, such as swappable thumbstick layouts and additional remappable buttons. We are thinking here of the Victrix Pro BFG Reloaded and the Razer Raiju V3 Pro.
It remains to be seen whether Sony will do anything with this buttonless controller patent. But it’s certainly an interesting idea that, if we can overcome the loss of physics associated with touchscreens, could be useful for creating accessibility-focused button layouts without the need for custom hardware configurations.
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