Xbox Design Lab has returned after a six-month hiatus

Microsoft first introduced the Xbox Design Lab in 2016, enabling fans to design Xbox controllers with personalized skins reflecting their unique styles. Over the last decade, the program has gained significant popularity as Microsoft has rolled out fresh aesthetics for a range of controllers and accessories. However, the website has been offline since December 2024, but it is now back online.

The Xbox Design Lab site had been unavailable for nearly eight months, with a notice indicating that the platform was in the process of changing payment processors. Now, it seems that this update has been successfully completed, as Microsoft has re-launched the Xbox Design Lab portal.

The company mentioned that there are now more design options available for creation than ever before. The Xbox Design Lab continues to enable customers to "build" Xbox Wireless Controllers, Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, adaptive thumbstick tops, and Xbox Elite accessories and components, among other items.

Materially, the rest of the portal appears unchanged. Interestingly, the website encourages users to also visit the Xbox Gear Shop, although that area seems to be offline at the moment. For those who may not know, the Xbox Gear Shop provides gaming merchandise such as branded shirts, pins, caps, collectible figures, and more. It's currently unclear why the Xbox Gear Shop is unavailable, but anyone needing customer support can reach out to [email protected].

The reappearance of the Xbox Design Lab will surely delight gamers who are bursting with creativity (and finances) or simply wish to express their aesthetic preferences or favorite games. You can start customizing your controller by visiting the Xbox Design Lab here, but remember that once an order is submitted, it cannot be canceled or returned - the latter due to its personalized nature, which may not appeal to others.

Combine your ideal controller with the powerful capabilities of the Xbox Series X to enjoy 4K gaming, rapid load times, and next-gen performance that brings your designs to life. As always, for the latest news on hardware launches and industry developments, be sure to follow our dedicated hardware coverage.