Sony launching DualShock 4 Back Button Attachment

Sony has announced a new piece of hardware for the current console generation, the DualShock 4 Back Button Attachment. The device will launch next month, the first hardware launch for the company in 2020 ahead of the PlayStation 5.

The Back Button Attachment is a device that slots into the DualShock 4 controller through the port at the front. The device boasts a total of three buttons that users can access from behind the joysticks of the DualShock 4 controller.

The two side buttons of the Back Button Attachment can be programmed to correspond to other buttons, such as R3 or L3, which players may need to make games easier, or give themselves an edge in competitive games. The middle button of the attachment features an LCD screen, and displays the three program profiles for the two side buttons, which users can switch between by pressing the LCD screen button.

The Back Button Attachment does block the DualShock 4’s headphone jack, but comes with one of its own. This means that users can still plug their headphones into the controller if they need to.

The Back Button Attachment has almost certainly been designed for competitive gaming at the highest level. Microsoft offers Xbox gamers fully configurable controllers, on which the layout can be completely changed to provide the perfect control scheme.

With Sony’s new device users can program the buttons they find most useful to these two back buttons, which could make it easier to shoot enemies in a Rainbow Six Siege esports match, or get that final combo in a Street Fighter 5 competitive game. It’s possible that players could even switch between control profiles mid-match, allowing them to perform several different actions in a short space of time.

The Back Button attachment launches on February 14, 2020 for $30, and around £30. The accessory comes quite late in the PlayStation 4’s lifecycle, but that might be a good thing. At this point all the major competitive games have been released for the PlayStation 4, meaning that players know which games they would need this accessory for, and what controls they would map to those back buttons.