The world's most expensive gaming accessory might just be this custom-made solid gold Xbox Series X controller. First conceived of by YouTuber Linus Sebastian, who runs the channel Linus Tech Tips, the project ultimately cost $87,500 to produce and contains nearly four pounds of 18-karat gold.
Linus Tech Tips worked with Expert Casings, a Vancouver-based company which creates gold props and accessories such as jewelry for the film industry. The professionals at Expert Casings encouraged Sebastian to work with gold-plated bronze instead, but the YouTuber was insistent that only solid gold would work.
The process was an extensive - and expensive - one, with each piece of the controller having to be molded separately. In a YouTube video describing the process, Linus Sebastian admitted that his team ended up spending more money than expected when the first attempt at creating a usable back plate warped significantly during the molding process.
Ultimately, the result was not quite a "solid gold" Xbox controller as claimed. Due to the fragile nature of pure gold, it was cut with an alloy containing silver, zinc and copper. Additionally, the inner workings of the controller itself remained the same, crafted from plastic and PCB, with only the outer shell of the controller ultimately being made from gold.
However, despite the many difficulties encountered during the process, the ultimate result was a success. The solid gold controller functioned better than expected, with the shoulder buttons and triggers working well despite gold not having as much "give" as plastic. Additionally, the team at Expert Casings was even able to recreate the "grippy" texture of an Xbox Series X controller by marking the surface using a finish called "Snake Lightning." Unfortunately, this did result in a large amount of wasted gold due to the need to cut and score the surfaces of the various gold pieces.
Unfortunately, this solid gold controller is a one-of-a-kind piece, so most gamers will not be able to get their hands on one of their own. However, if gamers are searching for gold, there is a limited edition gold-plated PlayStation 5 console which was created in 2020.
If the Linus Tech Tips team ever do decide to sell the controller, be careful - one streamer's "gold-plated PlayStation 5" giveaway resulted in the winner receiving a low-quality drawing of the console rather than the item itself.
Linus Tech Tips regularly uploads videos reviewing various pieces of technology, rounding up highly desirable pieces such as the RTX 3080, and providing information regarding how to build a gaming PC for personal use. A video of the team members actually playing games with the solid gold controller will be released in the near future. Additionally, the channel is selling gold Xbox controller themed T-shirts via its merchandise store.