With the revamped version of the Xbox Design Lab, it seems like Microsoft is really pushing for players to have their own customized pieces of hardware. One option, however, has just been discovered by fans that allow Xbox Elite 2 controllers to change the color of the Xbox button without doing any sort of additional hardware modifications.
As it turns out, the lights behind Xbox Elite Series 2 controllers aren't just white LEDs instead, they're RBG and can be changed by players on Steam. Several videos and pictures of the newly discovered color options have been making the rounds of the internet, but this video posted to the sub-Reddit r/XboxOne by Reddit user u/kevLinK shows just how many colors are available to players on Steam.
Oddly enough, this feature is only available on Steam with the Elite Series 2. Xbox One, Series X/S, and Elite 1 controllers don't seem to have the same customizable functions and the Elite 2 can't be customized anywhere outside of the Steam controller settings. What's more, after the color is changed on a controller, it reverts back to the default white once it's been turned off.
Plenty of fans are just finding out about this setting for the first time, which makes sense as Microsoft has never mentioned the feature in any of the Xbox Elite 2's marketing. Reddit commenters have speculated that Xbox might have planned the Xbox button to change colors in the same way as the DualShock 4 and DualSense do, but scrapped the idea by the time Series X controllers were designed.
For those looking to change the color of their Elite 2's Xbox button, Reddit user u/Somber_Solace detailed the steps in the comments of the video. In Steam, go to settings, then controller, then general controller settings. From there, check the boxes for Xbox Configuration Support and Xbox Extended Feature Support. Select the Elite Series 2 controller and then go into preferences to see the wide range of colors available and adjust the slider to the preferred color. Because the color resets every time the controller is turned off, those looking to use custom colors will need to repeat this every time they log on.
Because the colors can't be swapped anywhere in the Xbox controller settings menus, the trick can't be used on consoles, sadly. Additionally, as it's not available on the newer Series X/S controllers, the feature doesn't seem to be coming to consoles anytime soon.