Sony is seemingly looking at developing its back button attachment for the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller, according to a new patent.A new ‘controller add-on device with customizable presets’ document was published on the World Intellectual Property Organization database on February 4, which suggests that Sony wants to develop the accessory to function with the PS5’s gamepad. According to the patent, Sony filed the required paperwork on June 29, 2020, and the document’s publication would seemingly enable Sony to begin production on a DualSense back button attachment.
Images (below) seem to show a near-identical peripheral to the PS4 back button attachment released last year. We called that attachment “easy to recommend”, despite being “a little on the weird side” in a 7/10 review. At the time, we even wondered if it meant the DualSense would have in-built back buttons, but that wasn’t to be – it seems Sony is now offering an option for that.
Source: World Intellectual Property Organization
Like the PlayStation 4’s DualShock controller peripheral, the DualSense gamepad accessory would couple onto the input slots at the base of the PS5’s controller. The buttons on the accessory would also be fully customizable, which would allow users to map command pre-sets based on each button press. The patent indicates that the back button add-on would allow more buttons to be “within the reach of the user while using certain functions” as some button prompts “may be out of reach for the average hand while using certain functions”.
It’s unclear if Sony will press ahead with production on its DualSense back button add-on, or if this is the company merely covering themselves against third-party accessories. Sony has previously pressured Customize My Plates, a third-party PS5 plate maker, into canceling its custom-created orders, and the PS5 back button patent may be a way to prevent other companies from creating their own back button accessories.
News of this PS5 back button add-on patent comes after Sony revealed that the DualSense controller would not come automatically fitted with such a device. In September 2020, Sony confirmed that the gamepad would not have back button or trigger functionality, but this patent document suggests that it may not be long before the peripheral is official.
Tom Power is a UK-based freelance writer. Follow him on Twitter.Source