As you may remember, Microsoft was hit by a gigantic leak just over a year ago, in connection with court hearings for the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. One of the most spectacular things that leaked out was a new controller that went under the working name Sebile.
It had a somewhat peculiar design with a white top half and a black bottom half, and now Windows Central has discovered a patent from earlier this month that reveals that there is actually a good explanation for this look.
It turns out that Microsoft wants it to feel like a regular Xbox controller in your hands, while "the grips also house new haptic motors that can direct 'high definition' impulses. The patent describes how the new motors are spread throughout the device, and should actuate consistently irrespective of how the player moves the housing of the controller."
Windows Central also states that "the pulses and vibrations can be tuned to mimic a wide variety of sounds and motions, and can even move independently of the controller's housing", which at least on paper sounds like an exciting concept. The controller is also said to be designed to emulate the rumble feature from previous Xbox generations without requiring manual touches from developers.
Sebile will also support cloud gaming directly via Wi-Fi on the same terms as the Stadia controller once did, which significantly reduces the delay in button presses. The batteries seem to be both rechargeable and replaceable, which sounds like the same solution Microsoft has today. In addition to this, features such as Bluetooth 5.2 and "lift to wake", which starts the controller by lifting it up, are also mentioned, and recycled materials will be used as much as possible.
This sounds like a rather expensive controller that will be released together with the next Xbox - which we do not know when it will arrive (although 2026-2028 is often mentioned among so-called insiders). A reasonable guess is that the current controller will coexist with this one, as not everyone will need the features that are now planned.
It's worth remembering that far from all patents filed will be used, but this is a product we heard about over a year ago which is still being developed, something that does make it at least more likely that it is something Microsoft might end up using.
