Microsoft OKs Hyperkin’s remake of the original Xbox Duke controller

“The Duke” will return to enact its revenge upon all of us. Microsoft has approved Hyperkin’s updated remake of the original Xbox controller, and it is rolling into the next phase of production before the device launches for Xbox One and PC. Seamus Blackley, one of the people responsible for starting the Xbox division at Microsoft, is helping peripheral manufacturer Hyperkin bring back the Duke, and he announced that it is moving forward on social media.

Microsoft first debuted the Duke, which was never its official name, alongside the Xbox in 2001. The gamepad earned its nickname due to its massive size, and people seemed to originally use the “duke” name sarcastically as a criticism of its design. Microsoft would go on to launch the smaller Japanese controller as the S version in United States. That ended up replacing the Duke, and Microsoft never went back to the old design … until now. Microsoft introduced backward compatibility with certain original Xbox game on its Xbox One platform, and the company confirmed the Duke is fully compatible with those emulated titles.