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Sony Patent Describes Modular PlayStation Controller With Touchscreen

The filing points to a touchscreen for system navigation, swappable input modules alongside a rotating dial, with no confirmation Sony will commercialize the design.

Overview

  • Sony filed U.S. patent application US 20260199776 A1 on July 16, 2026, and multiple outlets published coverage of the application on Monday, July 20, 2026.
  • The patent sketches replace the PS5 DualSense touchpad with a central touchscreen intended to display menus, system settings, messages and notifications.
  • Design drawings show fully modular input pieces such as joysticks and button clusters that users can reposition and attach using buckles or a magnetic grid.
  • The text describes a graphical icon interface plus a rotating dial to select icons and navigate features, and it notes the touchscreen could surface phone calls and messages with gameplay pausing when a user interacts.
  • Journalists caution the filing documents a research concept rather than a product, though the idea builds on Sony’s past modular work like the DualSense Edge and could enable more customization and accessibility if produced.