A few hours ago, the Gfinity blog Steal Operational conducted an interview with Duracell UK's marketing manager Luke Anderson. In this interview, Anderson made comments concerning Duracell and Microsoft's partnership, stating that Duracell supplies the batteries for Xbox consoles and controllers. Since then, reports have surfaced online claiming that the deal between Microsoft and Duracell forces Microsoft to use Duracell batteries in their Xbox products.
These reports are incorrect. Microsoft has recently responded to the Duracell claims in an interview with Eurogamer and outright denied them. In its statement, Microsoft insists that it intentionally allows its customers to use battery solutions from any related brand they so choose, and these solutions extend to anything from AA batteries to USB-C cables, which can power a controller regardless of it being plugged into the console or PC. In fact, the only company-specific item is the Xbox Rechargeable Battery.
These statements also match up with something Xbox said early last year in regards to using AA batteries in its Xbox Series X/S controllers instead of the standard rechargeable packs its competitors use. In an interview with Digital Foundry, Jason Ronald, partner director of program management at Xbox, stated that the company chose to use batteries because a good portion of its customer base preferred them. In other words, it understands people have preferences, so it lets them choose.
At the time of this writing, Duracell has yet to comment on any of this, but it doesn't really need to. Listening to what Luke Anderson said, he never stated that Duracell required Microsoft to use their batteries and their batteries only. He just said that Duracell has a longstanding deal with Microsoft to supply them with batteries and that, essentially, he would like the deal to continue for as long as possible. Thus, while Duracell might be Microsoft's preferred choice, it's not forced to use it.
Microsoft has extended this type of open-minded thinking beyond the batteries of its controllers as well. The company recently released a survey that asked Xbox players if they would like Xbox Series X/S controllers to have the same features as the PlayStation 5's DualSense controller. Considering how volatile console wars between PlayStation and Xbox fans can get, Microsoft asking this question shows its belief in having a flexible approach with its products. At the very least, an approach that takes its customers' concerns into account before making final decisions.
Source: Eurogamer