A small number of buyers have been experiencing issues with the new Xbox Series X Wireless Controller. According to a 46-page thread in Microsoft's help forum, the gamepad doesn’t seem to stay connected to the console in some games and in certain situations.
Got a similar issue? The good news is that Microsoft has acknowledged the problem, and promises that a fix is on the way. Speaking exclusively to The Verge on Tuesday, a company spokesman said, “We are aware some players may be experiencing disconnects with their new Xbox Wireless Controllers and our teams are actively working on a solution to be included in a future update.”
How widespread is the problem? It's hard to say. Although 1800 co-signers on a forum post is enough to prove it’s a genuine concern, the fact that up to 1.4 million Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles were sold in the first 24 hours (thank you, VGChartz), means it's only a tiny fraction of users that are reporting issues. Some reports suggest it may only happen in certain games, such as Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, as this Reddit thread shows.
A further discrepancy is that while some gamers say their gamepad doesn’t want to stay synced to their console, others say their controller is paired, but not successfully sending inputs. Clearly, there are bugs.
Microsoft has said it is committed to finding a fix and, if you’re experiencing said controller disconnects on a Windows PC over Bluetooth (rather than on an Xbox console), there’s a Windows Update you can download, which may sort the issue right now.
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