Don't expect a black PS5 DualSense controller to be available at launch

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Sony will talk about more colors "at some point"

(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

It sounds like you shouldn't get your hopes up for snagging a black DualSense controller right at the PS5 launch later this year.

Sony gave Geoff Keighley the first public hands-on with the new DualSense controller today, sharing his impressions of the controller as he used it to play PS5's built-in Astro's Playroom game. A quick interview with PlayStation Worldwide Marketing boss Eric Lempel concluded the session, and Keighley's last question was extremely relatable: will there be other colors for the controllers or consoles, at launch or beyond?

"We'll talk about it at some point," Lempel answered. "Right now, as you mentioned, it's a hard enough job to get the unit that we've shown out. But we'll talk about it at some point."

Lempel's cagey response leaves the door open for more announcements down the road while emphasizing the idea that Sony already has plenty to do making the black-and-white versions ready for launch. That's even more true now that Sony has seemingly doubled its production plans for PS5; making more colorways for the console or controller would split manufacturing resources and add more logistical wrinkles to sort out.

Sony has offered a cornucopia of new colors for DualShock 4 this generation, with everything from special-edition tie-in designs for big games to metallic options that are fancy just for the heck of it. It's unlikely that it will abandon that tradition with PS5, but you may need to wait a little while after launch to start seeing what shape it will take for the next generation.

Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar.