Microsoft are going with the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy as far as the Xbox controller is concerned. Though they are releasing a new Xbox controller to go with the launch of the Xbox Series X and Series S, that controller will have iterative improvements, and existing accessories will be forward compatible.
They are, in fact, taking that philosophy another step forward, if a new rumour is to be believed. As per The Verge editor Tom Warren, Microsoft will be adding Dynamic Latency Input to existing Xbox One controllers in 2021, which will work when the controllers are used with the two next-gen consoles.
Dynamic Latency Input, in case you aren’t aware, is what Microsoft are calling the tech they’re using to, in their own words, “shave off precious milliseconds at every step of gameplay” in order to cut down on latency and make the on-screen action more immediate and responsive.
There is a question of whether the Dynamic Latency Input capability added to Xbox One controllers will still be applicable if, say, the controllers are plugged in to PC to play PC games. It’s also worth noting that Microsoft haven’t officially confirmed this yet, but considering their stance toward building a cross-gen ecosystem, this doesn’t seem like much of a stretch.
Either way, stay tuned, and we’ll let you know if there are any more updates.
Microsoft is adding its Dynamic Latency Input (DLI) to existing Xbox One controllers next year, and it will work when paired to Series S or Series X console. DLI is designed to keep the controller in sync with the game for analog and digital inputs to reduce latency and input lag
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) September 17, 2020