Sony has patented a controller with a rewind feature

Sony made some honest to god advancements to the game controller when it released the PlayStation DualSense alongside the PS5, and now it’s apparently looking to add some more innovation with the inclusion of a rewind feature.

The company has patented a new type of controller that comes with a rewind button. This would allow users to rewind gameplay with “user-triggered bookmarks.” The patent was discovered on Patentscope by Tech4Gamers (via TechRadarGaming). It appears to have been published as of October 31, 2024. The patent was applied for back in April of 2023. That might suggest that Sony is already working on this type of controller. Since the patent was applied for more than a year ago.

That does not, however, mean that Sony actually plans to release it. Sony could also just be securing the patent in case it ever wants to start developing a controller with such a feature.

Sony controller with a rewind feature would allow you to rewind gameplay

You can technically rewind a game now, although it depends on the game and it doesn’t really work like this feature that the patent is describing. However, any number of games will allow you to reset at a checkpoint after death. So in a sense, this would be a more advanced version of that perhaps.

The difference may lie in the ability to immediately hit the rewind button and go back to a very specific point of the player’s choosing. According to the patent, when the rewind button is pressed, it captures a series of frames and places them in sequential order. From there, users can pick out a frame and re-enter live gameplay from that point.

“The user is able to enter the rewind mode from the live gameplay using one or more controller inputs to view recent gameplay (e.g. rewinding, fast-forwarding, playing, etc.), and returning to live gameplay afterward,” the patent says.

The button could also allow for fast-forwarding

In addition to the rewind feature, the new button would also allow players to fast-forward. This could potentially let players skip past a particularly difficult portion or area of the game. It’s also noted that the button would be in the same location as the current share button on the DualSense. So it seems this would take the place of the share button. However, the rewind button would incorporate the share button features, so nothing would presumably be lost here.

The patent also describes additional features like a Highlight Reel mode. It’s unclear if this controller will ever make it into consumer’s hands. But, if it did it would be a nifty feature that could enhance gameplay on PlayStation consoles even further.