Purported Xbox Elite Series 3 Controller Prototype Somehow Ends Up in a Customer's Hands

The Xbox Elite Series 3 Wireless Controller hasn't even been officially announced yet, but a purported prototype has seemingly found its way into the hands of someone who thought they were buying an Elite Series 2 controller on the retail website OfferUp.

User "ssuberlex" on Reddit posted to the r/Controller subreddit asking users there whether or not they'd managed to get their hands on an Xbox Elite Series 3 controller, despite it not even being formally revealed yet. Members of the subreddit peppered the post with confident assertions that the original poster had somehow acquired a prototype of the Elite Series 3.

Commenter "workerq1" responded, "That's def a dev kit Elite 3, it may have been encrypted to only use with registered dev account on Xbox." And sure enough, the new owner of the controller mentioned elsewhere in the thread that "it does not pair with an Xbox nor with a cable. Just the red light blinking but doesn’t do any thing wired or wireless."

This new sighting follows an alleged leak from May. The Elite 3 will reportedly feature "Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth, a 3.5mm jack, interchangeable D-pad, paddles, two scroll wheels, and trigger locks" along with "a new pair button that can switch between local and cloud mode to reduce latency."

A formal reveal of the Xbox Elite Series 3 controller seems to be a matter of when, not if. Could it get revealed at Gamescom later this month? We gave the Elite Series 2 a 7 out of 10 in our 2019 review, and we loved the original release back in 2015.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, and a co-host of Next-Gen Console Watch. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.