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When observed in a vacuum, the video game industry in 2024 has a relatively decent number of hardware options available for gamers with physical or motor control disabilities, compared to what was available over the past few decades.
The Switch has the Hori Flex, Xbox has the Xbox Adaptive Controller, and PlayStation has PlayStation Access Controller. All three of these devices, to some degree, support the use of third party peripherals to customise your controller layout. Two of those consoles offer options for using multiple controllers in tandem as part of a single setup. In many ways, controller accessibility and setup flexibility are better than they’ve ever been before.
However, one aspect of video game controller accessibility has been the subject of a quiet war the past few years, wrestling between the needs of disabled gamers and console manufacturers trying to keep multiplayer matchmaking fair and balanced.
We need to talk about cross platform controller support, and devices that facilitate cheating in (mostly) online multiplayer shooters.
While it’s great that the Xbox Adaptive Controller, Hori Flex, and PlayStation Access Controller each exist, all three of these controllers serve very different audiences of disabled gamers. The Hori Flex features every face button of a Switch controller without external peripherals, but the Xbox Adaptive Controller’s two face buttons are larger and better support playing using your feet. The PlayStation Access Controller comes with built-in adjustable analogue sticks as default, but lacks the 3.5mm port availability of its alternatives. Looking beyond accessibility controllers the standard Xbox controller features asymmetrical sticks compared to the PS5’s symmetrical layout, and only the Switch’s Joy-Cons can be held apart from each other on different sides of the body.
All of these controllers have their own benefits and drawbacks, and as a result there will always be a demand from the accessibility community for a way to use one console’s controllers across other devices. No matter how perfect PlayStation thinks the Access Controller is, there will always be someone who would benefit from being able to use the Xbox Adaptive controller instead when playing PlayStation games. No matter how well the Xbox Adaptive Controller works for some disabled gamers, others would rather use two Joy-Cons in a 3D printed single hand grip that they bought off of Etsy.
For the past few console generations, multiple competing companies have attempted to create devices that would allow for this kind of cross-platform controller support, to varying degrees of success. Some of these devices exist purely to facilitate cross-platform controller usage, but increasingly over time they’ve tended to be designed as dual purpose devices instead.
This is where we get into discussing the Cronus Zen.
The Cronus Zen was, until recently, a device which allowed PS5 players to use non PlayStation controllers such as the Xbox Adaptive Controller on PS5. It was also a cheat enabling device, used by many to do things like counteracting weapon recoil in online competitive shooters.
As of PS5 system update 24.01-08.60.00, the Cronus Zen no longer works on PS5. The device manufacturers are apparently trying to work on an update to get around this, but for the time being the device doesn’t work on PS5 consoles.
While PlayStation has not officially stated that the firmware deliberately prevents the Cronus Zen from functioning, it feels safe to assume that this was deliberate. The device enables cheating in online games, there’s likely a pressure to prevent its use to keep games fair, and as such it was likely banned deliberately.
The issue is, increasingly few cross-platform controller adapters are supported across any of the major consoles today, whether or not they enable cheating like the Cronus Zen. As we saw with last year’s Xbox crackdown on unlicensed peripherals, there’s an increasingly hostile attitude towards these kinds of devices from console makers, and regardless of motivation it’s having a negative impact on disabled gamers.
There are workarounds still to use cross-platform controllers on PS5, but it’s not an ideal experience. You can, for example, use Remote Play to connect to your PS5 via a PC which might support using your Xbox Adaptive Controller, or using remote play via your PS4 and then using an adapter that still works on that system but doesn’t work on PS5. There will be a little bit of added input latency, but it is an option in theory.
The issue is, there is a clear demand from disabled gamers for cross-platform controller support. Not every gamer who loves God of War: Ragnarok finds the PlayStation Access Controller the best device for their needs. Some Mario Wonder players would really benefit from the Xbox Adaptive Controller specifically. That kind of demand for cross platform controller support exists, and is mainly being met currently by third party adapter manufacturers trying to evade bans, and selling devices that enable cheats in order to increase the number of people that will buy these adapters.
I understand that brand identity is important, and that most major companies don’t want to be seen supporting anything with a competitor’s branding in an official capacity, but at the end of the day I really think that Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox need to sit down and acknowledge the current situation. Their players are sometimes best served by controllers that a competitor makes, and the best way to address that might be to offer official support for those alternative companies controllers rather than trying to squash third party companies attempting to backdoor that support for those controllers in.
Not every disabled gamer finds your controllers usable. Not every disabled gamer can afford to buy multiple different expensive accessibility controllers. Not every disabled gamer can disassemble and reassemble an accessibility setup without assistance any time they want to swap between systems. Not every disabled gamer is served by your unique accessibility hardware option.
The Cronus Zen being banned won’t be the end of PS5 players using non-PlayStation controllers to play their games. Either Cronus will find a workaround, or a new device will pop up, and this game of cat and mouse will begin all over again. People will find ways to use the PS5 Access Controller to play Xbox games via Game Pass Streaming on PC, and mods to get their Switch to accept an Xbox Adaptive Controller. This desire and need are not going away any time soon.
I know it’s a tall ask, but I believe the direction the industry needs to eventually go in is to officially support competitors controllers natively across consoles. It’s important for accessibility, and helps avoid situations where fighting to stop cheaters inadvertently hurts legitimate players who just happen to be disabled and need to use a different controller.
Disable third party devices if you must, but make exceptions for the devices of your primary competition. Accept that if someone wants to play your unique library of exclusive titles, they’re not always going to be able to do so with the controller that you’re offering them. I understand not wanting to allow devices like the Cronus Zen, but the only real alternative is to directly support the controllers disabled gamers are using things like the Cronus Zen to connect to your console with. Cut out the middleman and directly support your competition.
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