Xbox Elite Series 3 Controller Specs Leaked Out of Microsoft’s Own Design Lab

Microsoft has not announced an Xbox Elite Series 3. Its own Design Lab appears to have described one anyway, down to the thumbstick options.

A Reddit user says they got into the backend of Spectrum Customizer, the configuration system that powers Xbox Design Lab, and pulled out configuration records and 3D component models for a controller carried internally under the codename Edessa. Digital Foundry reported the find. The files are no longer reachable, and Microsoft has confirmed none of what follows.

Two ways to fight stick drift

The records describe two thumbstick options. One is Hall effect, in standard, loose and tight versions. The other is TMR magnetic sensing. Both read stick position with magnets instead of a contact scraping across a resistive strip, and that scraping is what wears down into drift.

Both options target drift, which is the failure that makes an expensive controller feel disposable.

The tension choice is the awkward bit. Standard, loose or tight is a decision you make at checkout, on a web page, having touched none of them.

Haptics, a volume wheel, and a parts bin

The data lists "Advanced Haptics (VCAs)". VCA stands for voice coil actuator, the part behind HD rumble style feedback, which produces finer and more specific buzzes than a motor spinning a weight. Whether Xbox games do anything with it is a separate question from whether the hardware can.

An audio scroll wheel for headset volume also shows up, so headset volume would move under your thumb instead of through a menu.

The rest reads like a parts bin: metal faceplate options, low friction and silent stick variants, multiple paddle designs, and three D-pads (standard, cross, and one the records call "grippy").

Options in a backend still get cut

Price and release date are not in the leak. The records cover parts and options, and say nothing about what a finished controller costs or when it ships.

A configurator backend is a menu. Options on it get cut before launch, and codenames get shelved. The same leak also turned up a design for an odd looking cloud controller, which could be a second product or something that never leaves a design review.

If your Elite Series 2 sticks have started wandering, the fix is at least drawn up somewhere inside Microsoft. Whether you can buy it, and for how much, Microsoft has not said.