An executive from Microsoft admitted that the company had underestimated the demand for the Elite Controller for the Xbox One gaming system.
According to Chris Capossela, the company's CMO, Microsoft decided to scale back the production of the controllers due to the response it received during this year's E3 event.
The Elite Controller officially debuted on October 27 of this year. Priced at $150, it's certainly more expansive that other controllers for next-gen consoles currently available in the market.
But, for that price, gamers will get a unique controller with customizable features such as adjustable trigger values and thumbstick sensitivity. They can also arrange the assignments of control buttons and interchange the rear paddles and trigger locks. In addition, the Elite Controller works for the PC platform as well.
Due to the features of the device, stocks of it in major retailers like Amazon, GameStop, Best Buy and even the online store of Microsoft have ran out less than two months after its release, according to GameSpot. With no new stocks coming in, gamers have no choice but to wait for Microsoft to produce or just purchase the Xbox One Elite model console for $500.
According to Capossela, before the release of the unique controller, Microsoft intended to make more if it. However, given its steep price, a lot of attendees during the E3 conference told the company that it was too expensive.
Probably sensing that not many people will buy it due to its price tag, Microsoft decided to abandon its original production target for the Elite Controller.
"Here's the product we totally underestimated," he said according to Geek Wire. "If I could have built 10 times the number I built, I would have. We got that feedback at E3 that it was awesome, but maybe the price was a little too high, and so that influenced how many we produced."
Then, a couple of weeks after the launch of the controller, Capossela said that he and the other executives from Microsoft decided to visit various retailers to check on the status of the latest product.
"On the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving, myself and Kevin Turner our COO, and the guy who runs our stores, David Porter, we go around and visit 30 or 40 different stores," he noted. "Best Buy and GameStop and AT&T and Verizon and Microsoft Stores, just to see how things look."
"The one thing we heard from everybody was, 'You needed to make way more of these controllers,'" he added.
Capossela did not mention if or when Microsoft will release a new batch of Elite Controllers. But given the feedback from consumers, the company will probably do so within the next couple of weeks.
