Xbox One controller to become remappable soon, Microsoft says, helping disabled and hardcore gamers

The feature was announced for the Elite controller recently, is available on the PlayStation — and is now on its way to the normal controller

A man dressed as a zombie plays video games on an Xbox One console during a midnight launch event in New York. (REUTERS/Lucas Jackson )

The Xbox will soon allow players to remap their controllers, in a move that is likely to please disabled players as well as those simply looking to customise their accessories.

The feature allows players to reconfigure what each of the buttons means on the game pad. So the B button can be swapped for the A one, for instance — or, more usefully, less used buttons can be swapped for more used ones to make the controller more accessible or faster.

The feature is already available on the PlayStation. And Microsoft’s Elite controller, announced earlier this year, also has the feature.

But an Xbox director confirmed in a tweet that the feature is coming to normal controllers “soon”.

The Elite controller has a range of other features including extra buttons and is even more customisable in other ways.

It’s likely that the new feature will be rolled out in November, along with the new Xbox update. As well as those changes, the update is set to bring Windows 10 to the Xbox as well as reverse compatibility.