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If you're getting stuck into hundreds of hours' worth of Crimson Desert at the moment, you may be keeping one eye on its limited merch pool. Annoyingly, no officially licensed controllers have arrived with a Crimson Desert tie-in yet, so collectors and super fans won't be able to commemorate their playthrough with a PC, PS5, or Xbox Series X controller that sports artwork from the franchise.
But a random two years on, fantasy RPG fans can get their hands on a limited edition controller for a completely different game? That's right, a new version of the GameSir G7 Pro controller has just arrived at Amazon, which commemorates... Dragon's Dogma 2.
I'm not too sure how the timing has worked out here, but as the world's obsession with Crimson Desert continues, it seems like a good time to remind people that Dragon's Dogma 2 was a thing. With a peak concurrent player count of 228,585 on Steam when it launched, it's drifted all the way down to a 48-hour peak of under 3,000 players.
It does seem like a bizarre bit of timing on GameSir's part to launch a special design of its flagship controller for a game that came out two years ago and hasn't made an awful lot of noise since. Other G7 Pro designs have shot for ongoing franchises or live service games like Zenless Zone Zero or Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, which only launched last year. Then again, these are all franchises that come out of Asia, where GameSir is based, so it may be that the brand wants to celebrate franchises that are a hit with its home crowd.
Speculation aside, licensing does take time. Although you may think that it's totally out of the blue to launch a special edition controller for a game that's celebrating two years since release, things aren't as simple as drawing up a design and throwing it on the shelves. Licensing for controllers is a collaborative process, and both parties involved need to sign off on certain decisions and certifications before releasing a product to the masses. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll see some Crimson Desert-branded gamepads before too long. It'd certainly be an ironic release given the amount of hassle the game's control scheme was giving players at launch.
Regardless of the relevance of Dragon's Dogma 2 in a Crimson Desert-obsessed world, you can't fault the design work of GameSir with this version of the G7 Pro. With an amber and black body, a beautifully framed dragon on the controller's face, and a central logo on its charging stand, it just looks like something pulled straight out of a forge fire, which does complement the absolute weaponry that is this controller.
The G7 Pro has undoubtedly shaken up the gamepad market in the last year. Its features, premium feel, and TMR thumbsticks have sat at a much more reasonable price than many of its competitors, and its comfort and feel are something that lend it to pretty much any gaming genre. I'd argue it's the best pound-for-pound TMR controller on the shelves right now, especially when it comes to value for money, as the rest of the field is littered with $200 peripherals that don't offer all that much more.
Even with a slightly increased price over the standard colorway of the G7 Pro, the new Dragon's Dogma 2 Edition launches at a slightly cheaper cost than the new Steam Controller, which is currently the gamepad in the mainstream spotlight. Funnily enough, I was rounding up a list of solid alternatives I've tested (specifically for competitive players) yesterday, and the GameSir G7 Pro was one I gave the nod to.
To get more in-depth about controllers, take a look at the best PC controllers, the best PS5 controllers, and the best Switch 2 controllers.
