The PlayStation Access controller has been five years in the making, a first-party device created for as wide a range of disabled players as possible. Years of research, prototyping, and consulting with experts and players with various disabilities have resulted in the controller we see today, which I was able to check out at PlayStation’s US headquarters in San Mateo, CA. Getting time with it let me experience what it's like to use it in games such as Gran Turismo 7, Horizon Forbidden West, God of War Ragnarok, and Street Fighter 6. But what’s just as important was discovering how intuitive it is to set up from the software side, and how its highly modular design makes player customization simple.

As senior technical program manager Alvin Daniel stated, the Access controller is "the critical link in the chain" with regards to accessibility in the PlayStation 5's ecosystem. With first-party games embracing robust suites of options and the latest OS update for the PS5 including the support necessary to make the most of the Access controller, the missing piece is the controller itself. Fortunately, it's shaping up to be the kind of breakthrough accessibility in gaming needs.

How the Access Controller Works

First, let’s go over the actual design of the PlayStation Access controller. It’s a circular-shaped device that lays flat on a surface with eight radial buttons, one large button at the center, and an analog stick protruding outward. A profile button lets you cycle between three different control schemes that you can customize in the system settings, and the home button is found on the base of the analog stick. Additionally, there are four 3.5mm ports on the side that will recognize any third-party input device, letting you use existing accessibility tools as additional buttons.