Sony got rid of the PS5 Dualsense controller button colors to simplify things

(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

You might have noticed that the PS5 DualSense controller is missing the controller's typical colors for its X, Square, Circle, and Triangle buttons.

It turns out there's a reason that the DualSense controller's face buttons are all a neutral blank color, instead of a combination of green, blue, red, and purple. "Yes, except for special editions, we’ve always used those colors," PlayStation senior art director Yujin Morisawa explains to The Washington Post. "For the PlayStation 5, we tried to eliminate what was already there. I wanted to simplify it and make it universal."

The PS5 controller has a scheme of two colors right now: black and white. There's no coloring on any buttons, and Morisawa adds that the shapes themselves "already [show] what the button is going to be," so the colors aren't necessary.

In the same interview with The Washington Post, Morisawa revealed that he originally designed by the PS5 to be bigger than it is now. Sony's new console is a heckin' chonker by anyone's standards, so it's a big relief that Morisawa was told to make the console smaller by the powers that be at Sony.

To see what we made of our time so far with Sony's new controller, check out our full DualSense PS5 controller review for more.

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.