New Xbox Program Lets You Earn Credit With Controller Designs

A while back, Microsoft introduced the Xbox Design Lab program. It enables users to create their own controller designs, then get them made onto an actual controller they can use with their Xbox One. It's been a very successful program, adding a distinct level of personality to gamers' play styles.

But what if you could earn money from it? That's what's going on with Microsoft's new program, which will provide users with a bonus incentive for designing Xbox controllers through it.

Fans that create popular controller designs that are ordered often through the program will be able to earn digital currency that can be used on Xbox Live. In addition, controllers can also appear in certain Xbox marketing campaigns. But the catch, you might guess, is that you would need to claim a design idea before someone else does, and see just how popular it gets.

Chief creative officer for Xbox ad agency McCan London, Laurence Thomson, noted, "When you design a controller on the platform, beyond owning it, the unique design actually becomes yours, yours to name and yours to promote--for the first time you can earn from it, we'll even give you all the marketing tools so you can push it yourself."

It sounds like an ideal way to clean up on store credit with the program, which you can then turn around to purchase goods and games through Xbox Live, including pre-orders for forthcoming releases. While real money would be a novel idea, this certainly beats getting nothing. And to think, it's all from slapping together a neat little controller design. (There are plenty that you can put together on the Xbox Design Lab page – there are thousands just waiting to be created.)

So the question is, what should you create within the program? A special NFL team-oriented pad with a cool design to it? Something weird and funky involving yellow and blue? Whatever it is, you can go and try it out and see how everything fits. And then, hey, maybe order one for yourself so you have one to call your own.

We'll see how this program fares in the months ahead.