Xbox Is Trying To Save The Planet With This New Product

Microsoft’s new translucent Sky Cipher Xbox controller comes in a new type of packaging that aims to cut down on Microsoft’s overall carbon footprint.

The packaging for the controller features no single-use plastics like other Xbox controllers have, while the paper manual inside the packaging is gone, replaced with a QR code for a digital guide. Overall, the packaging is 22% smaller and 21% lighter, which further reduces the environmental footprint, Microsoft said.

Microsoft has not released any images of the new packaging, but that should become clear soon, as the controller releases on August 13 for $70.

In 2020, Microsoft said it was aiming to be “carbon negative” by 2030, and by 2050, the company said it was hoping to remove all the carbon it created since it became a company in 1975. As part of this effort, in 2023, Microsoft announced that all Xbox consoles would default to the energy-saving state to help reduce the company’s overall carbon footprint.

In 2019, Microsoft created 825,000 carbon-neutral Xbox consoles as part of a test program. More than 20 video game companies came together to support an initiative called “Playing for the Planet” that aimed to help raise awareness for climate change and implement various changes to help save the planet. Ubisoft, for its part, lit the forests in Riders Republic on fire to help raise awareness.