New PS5 Controller Feature Possibly Revealed

A new patent from PlayStation has surfaced, and it appears to contain information pertaining to [...]

By Tyler Fischer

A new patent from PlayStation has surfaced, and it appears to contain information pertaining to the PS5 controller. More specifically, a new patent filed by Sony Interactive Entertainment was recently discovered by German website Techtastic, and the patent seemingly points to a major change in how the DualShock operates. If the patent comes to fruition, then it looks like the DualShock 5 will take a page out of the Google Stadia playbook by making the PS5 controller connect to the Internet, rather than the console itself.

The patent in question was just filed a few weeks ago with the World Intellectual Property Organization, and is accompanied by a slab of images that show the controller connecting to an online server rather than the console. That said, interestingly, the patent never outright says it's for a controller, but rather a "controller device," which is just ambiguous enough to suggest this could be unrelated to the DualShock 5.

"The controller device communicates directly to an access device for connection to a network that connects the controller device to the server without connecting to a client device," reads the patent.

Of course, even if this related to the DualShock 5, it doesn't mean it's going to come to fruition in a significant way. Hardware makers -- including Sony -- file patents all the time, and many never take form in the consumer market. That said, it's interesting to see that, at the very least, Sony is toying with this technology, especially considering the Stadia is getting ready to come to market with it next month.

This isn't the only new PlayStation patent to recently surface online though (via US Patent & Trademark Office and Respawn First). Another was filed earlier this week for what appears to be a PlayStation VR controller with a circular design.

"Proposed is a controller which can suppress an amount of protrusion of an operation member from an external surface of a chassis while operability of the operation member is maintained," reads the patent. "A controller including a chassis, and an operation member which is slideable along an extension direction of the chassis with a predetermined position as a reference, and is rotatable in a circumferential direction of the chassis with the predetermined position as the reference, and at least a part of which is fitted into a recess section provided in an external surface of the chassis."

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(Photo: USPTO via Respawn First)

Again, this is probably Sony prototyping controllers for the PlayStation VR 2, but it's quite possible nothing will ever come of this patent either. Alas, for now, all we can do is patiently wait for more information from Sony.

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