Xbox Elite Series 3 details leak via Design Lab, listing magnetic sticks and haptics
Microsoft's unannounced Xbox Elite Series 3 controller has leaked through its own custom-controller website.
The details were found in backend text for Xbox Design Lab, Microsoft's online shop for personalised controllers, Eurogamer reported on 6 October 2026. Microsoft has not announced the controller. The leak reads like store copy prepared ahead of a reveal.
The headline change is the sticks. The listing points to a choice between Hall Effect and TMR analogue sticks, the thumbsticks that control movement and camera. Both are magnetic types designed to avoid the wear that causes stick drift, when inputs register without touch. Leaked text describes both options as magnetic, TweakTown reported.
Buyers would also get three tension settings. The specifications include standard, loose and tight thumbstick tension variants, Windows Central reported. That controls how stiff or free the sticks feel under the thumb.
Vibration gets a bigger role. The leak references "advanced haptics", a more precise and localised form of rumble feedback. It also keeps impulse triggers, triggers that can vibrate on their own, with their own haptics and multi-stage presses. That would allow a trigger to push back differently at different points in a pull.
There is also a dedicated "audio scroll wheel". The listing does not explain its function, but the name points to on-controller volume or chat-mix control. Swappable hardware stays central. Faceplates can be customised and replaced, and the leak points to multiple d-pad choices, the cross-shaped directional input below the left stick.
The range may come in four products. The leak suggests two main versions dubbed Base and Complete, each with an optional haptics motor. Pricing and a release date were not included in the leaked text.
What makes this stand out is timing. The current Elite Series 2 is seven years old as of October 2026, and the reported Series 3 carries the codename Edessa, Digital Foundry reported. The full-featured Series 2 launched at £160 / US$180, followed by the Series 2 Core in 2022 at £115 / US$130 with fewer parts in the box.
For players, this means choice rather than a single flagship. Magnetic sticks, adjustable tension and add-on vibration suggest Microsoft wants one shell to cover different budgets and play styles. Until Microsoft confirms it, the specs stay a leak, not a product list.
