New Xbox Controller Leaks Before Announcement

A new controller for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox One consoles has leaked prior to an official announcement from Microsoft. Despite boasting its own “Design Lab” which allows customers to create their own unique Xbox controllers, Microsoft still releases plenty of gamepads in a traditional manner that can’t be purchased at retailers. Now, a new controller of this type seems to be on the precipice of being unveiled quite soon. 

Reported at Dealabs by reputable leaker billbil-kun, a new Xbox controller is set to release in short order that Microsoft is calling the “Sky Cipher Special Edition” controller. This model of the Xbox controller is said to be similar to the version that was released in 2021 in tandem with Forza Horizon 5. Specifically, that controller’s transparent shell is reportedly going to be featured on this Sky Cipher edition with a blue tint. As for its release, the Sky Cipher controller is claimed to be releasing next month, potentially on August 13th, for a price of $69.99. Its reveal will then take place in a little over a week on July 31st. 

Outside of these cosmetic differences, this new Xbox controller seems to be generally the same as all other models that can readily be purchased. Last year, a leak directly from Microsoft indicated that the company was in the process of working on a new Xbox controller that it was internally calling “Sebile.” This model would supposedly contain haptic feedback, similar to the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller. Previous reporting has indicated that this “Sebile” controller should be unveiled at some point before 2024 wraps up. 

If Microsoft is indeed gearing up to show off this overhauled version of the Xbox controller, it could be waiting until its next lineup of Xbox consoles are released. Revealed this past month, two new Xbox Series consoles will arrive later in 2024 and will be headlined by an all-digital version of the Xbox Series X. The additional console will then be a 2TB Xbox Series S. If Sebile is still real, it could be announced around this time. At the very least, though, more info on the Sky Cipher version should drop next week.