Microsoft has made several choices over the past few years that push the idea of "games for everyone," including Game Pass, the 2021 GOTY Valheim (opens in new tab), and most recently Persona 5 Royal (opens in new tab), It's one of the cheapest ways to get instant access to a library full of great games. Microsoft's adaptive controller is another great example of how the company is working to make gaming more accessible to all, and it almost didn't happen.

As reported by The Verge (opens in new tab), Microsoft almost cut the Adaptive Controller during development. When funding was cut for the project, the now widely acclaimed Adaptive Controller was on the verge of being put on the chopping block. In the end, it saw the light of day only because of how hard those working within the company fought to keep the controller alive.

"There was a time when an Xbox controller designed for accessibility was on the cut list," Robin Saylor, Microsoft's COO and CVP of Windows and Devices, told The Verge. Xbox and Surface The whole team said, "No, this is important to the world. This is not about revenue or brand positioning, this is about people being able to play games when they want to play them."

Given that the concept was born out of a hackathon project within Microsoft, it is clear that adaptive controllers were important to people. The effort to keep it going despite budget cuts is a great effort to get more people interacting with the device more effectively in games and other projects.

It is worth noting that Microsoft has since put considerable effort into marketing adaptive controllers. Hopefully, no more bigwigs will try to stop this accessibility train in order to cut costs.

It seems that the next big hurdle for Microsoft's adaptive technology is not there. Rather, it's the idea. We recently spoke with Bryce Johnson (open in new tab), inventor of the adaptive controller, and while he is happy with the direction the technology is going, he doesn't seem to know much about what to do next. There are some strange products out there that claim accessibility but are not really useful and are just trying to make a buck in the marketplace.

Still, it is great to see accessibility coming to the forefront of thinking when it comes to the development of new hardware. Microsoft has already made inroads into general computing devices with its Surface adaptive accessory, and even Nintendo has revealed that it is considering its own adaptive controller (opens in new tab). There are also ways to assist with 3D printing for those who need controller modifications (opens in new tab).