As an apology, Xbox is giving away free $10 gift cards to those who are having trouble with the newly opened Design Lab website. After being briefly disabled to prepare for the next Xbox Series X launch in the autumn of 2020, this popular feature was restored back online during Microsoft and Bethesda’s E3 demonstration earlier this month.
The idea behind Xbox Design Lab is simple: gamers can create their own unique Xbox controllers (within reason, of course) and have them shipped to them. With 18 hues to choose from, users can build their own unique paint jobs or even reproduce legendary setups from the past, such as the classic white Xbox 360 controller. Players who attempted to use the Design Labs site have received error warnings while attempting to save or buy their own designs, leading to the loss of hours of effort.
Xbox is well aware of the Design Lab’s difficulties, as revealed by GameRant and repeated by IGN Executive Editor Ryan McCaffrey on Twitter a few days ago, and is handing out $10 worth of Microsoft Store credit to impacted users as compensation.
Surprisingly, some gamers have chosen to have their custom controllers engraved with the additional cash. While the issues that caused these error messages to appear to have been fixed, not everyone has yet gotten their gift cards.
Xbox has started releasing its own unique designs, such as the commemorative Pride Month design, which was sadly only available to influencers online, and the stunning Pulse Red pattern from the start of the year. Meanwhile, even before Design Lab was brought back, enthusiasts created their own Xbox controller designs, such as YouTuber Linus Sebastian’s gleaming but pricey solid gold Xbox Series X controller.
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While the error warnings that have plagued Xbox Design Lab since its relaunch have been inconvenient for creative gamers attempting to personalize their gaming setups, Microsoft is at least admitting the issue, and offering impacted customers some additional spending money as compensation.
Hopefully, the technical issues that prompted the error warnings in the first place have been resolved, and Xbox Design Lab users can return to work on their delicious new custom Xbox controller layout without fear of a glitch destroying hours of hard work.
