PlayStation’s Project Leonardo is A Step in the Right Direction

I keep my ear to the ground when it comes to accessibility controllers to see what the latest developments are. As such, when I saw the announcement of Sony’s Project Leonardo accessibility controller I was very excited. I’m not going to go into all the details of Project Leonardo here because the blog post does a much better job of expressing what we know so far. However, this announcement does warrant discussion.

While Microsoft’s accessibility controller has done good for a lot of people, I’ve had some issues with it in general. The price point and the fact that many of the peripheral pieces are sold separately cause it to have a high barrier of entry. Additionally, because accessibility isn’t a one-size-fits-all issue, there are gaps in what Microsoft’s adaptive controller is capable of.

Introducing Project Leonardo for PlayStation 5, a highly customizable accessibility controller kit https://t.co/rGW565sauQ https://t.co/p0Km04tsbN pic.twitter.com/IH29pSFQJY

— Wario64 (@Wario64) January 5, 2023

Don’t get me wrong, no accessibility controller is going to be perfect for everyone. However, what PlayStation has shown with Project Leonardo gives me much more faith in it due to its modular capabilities and its remappable controls. Additionally, Sony has stated that it will interface with other accessibility devices, which is promising.

The big goal in any accessibility endeavor is to make sure that as many people as possible are able to make use of the peripherals to suit their needs. While we don’t know the price point yet, the size of the controller makes it great for people with average hands. People with smaller hands might have trouble reaching certain buttons, but hopefully, there are modular options to account for that.

For some (such as our Editor Lisa) Project Leonardo may not work. Right now she uses the Joy-Cons, which are two-pieces and are smaller than an Xbox or PlayStation controller. Thanks to programs like Xjoy she uses the Joy-Cons to play games both on Switch and PC. However, larger controllers are difficult for her due to her specific needs. As such, it is important that we remember that Project Leonardo is just a step in the right direction. There is always more work to be done.

Of course, only time will tell how helpful and how useful Project Leonardo is at launch. We don’t have a launch date for it, and the team behind it is still hard at work taking feedback from experts in order to make it the best it can be. There are a lot of factors that will determine how helpful it is, between price point, user-friendly design, and other factors.

Regardless, the announcement of Project Leonardo shows that Sony is committed (more than they already were) to making games accessible for everyone. Between the developmental strides made in recent Sony and PlayStation-exclusive games, and these hardware plans, Sony is doing real work to make gaming on PlayStation more accessible.

Additionally, PS5 controllers can be used on PC as well, so hopefully, this will mean that Project Leonardo could find its place amongst PC gamers too. I’m very excited to learn more as Project Leonardo develops further. The future of gaming accessibility is bright indeed.