Behind the scenes at Swiss controller manufacturer Rocket Games
Rocket Games produce premium PlayStation controllers for gamers who won’t make do with off-the-shelf products. I visited the company in Rümlang.
A PlayStation controller for 300 francs? Only in Switzerland, right? Right. Zurich-based company Rocket Games specialises in custom controllers for the PlayStation 5. However, the majority of its customers don’t live in the land of chocolate, banks and tax breaks. During my visit, CEO Fabian Hammerbauer tells me why people are willing to spend a small fortune on a controller, how the company’s keeping Chinese competition at bay and what he’s expecting to see from the PS6 controller.
You started out in 2017 by selling game keys. Why did you switch to controllers?
Fabian Hammerbauer, CEO of Rocket Games: I’m a foreman by trade, but my wife and I wanted to gain some experience in e-commerce and gave it a go with game keys. The turning point came when Aim Controllers gave us the opportunity to distribute their controllers in Switzerland. I soon understood there was far more potential in that. However, the collaboration left much to be desired. We started working with King Controller instead, but still weren’t getting the quality we wanted. I reached the point where I’d had enough and decided to go it alone. I found partners in China, and we started making our own PS4 controllers in 2020.
What happened then?
We were at comic con festival Fantasy Basel. Migros noticed us and ordered 500 of our controllers. This boosted business to the point where we needed to hire people. Shortly before the launch of the PS5, we realised that Switzerland was way too small for our business to survive, so we looked for a partner and expanded into Germany. Today, our German customers account for 80 per cent of our sales.
Your controllers look like PS5 controllers and have all the same features, such as adaptive triggers and haptic feedback. Yet you’re not an official Sony partner. How does that work?
We buy original PS5 controllers and acquire the licence in doing so. However, we only use the circuit board and make the rest ourselves. As soon as you open up the controllers and start tinkering with them, they’re no longer official PlayStation controllers. That’s why there are no Sony or PlayStation logos on our products. However, they do meet all legal requirements.
Your biggest competitor, Scuf, is an official Sony partner. What’s the advantage of that, and why aren’t you?
Partners get to design the controllers from scratch and don’t need to modify existing ones. This gives them far more options for customisation. However, a collaboration also costs at least half a million francs. In addition, you have to give Sony five to ten per cent of the revenue. In spite of this, a partnership is our ultimate goal.
Looking at all the parts in your warehouse, it seems like you have plenty of flexibility even without this partnership.
True. Customers have lots to choose from: glass buttons, coloured menu buttons, digital bumpers, grips with better traction, carbon rings and much, much more. In theory, we could even modify the shape of the controller, but people love the DualSense design. The most popular upgrade is the TMR sticks. We’re the first supplier to integrate TMR technology into PS5 controllers. Before that, we relied on the Hall effect.
Some manufacturers, such as 8bitdo, already offer Hall effect triggers. Why don’t you?
There’s no such thing as Hall effect triggers. That’s just marketing. Those controllers simply have magnets inside them. Unlike Logitech, who are heading in that direction with their Pro X2 Superstrike gaming mouse. However, its components are still too big to be built into a controller.
Back in the day, third-party controllers were, at best, good enough to hand to a friend when you were playing a game together. These days, they’re often better than the originals. What’s changed?
There was already a demand for better controllers for the PS4. Not least because of the declining quality of the original ones. At the time, everything was screwed together; today, everything is plugged in. Scuf was the first company to produce its own PS4 controller. But thanks to Migros and our expansion into the EU, we were able to drive them out of our market.
**How have gamers’ needs changed?****
Although customised controllers are still a niche thing, the demand’s bigger than you might expect. To date, we’ve already sold over 8,000. Their life cycle is always a top priority. TMR sticks are also becoming increasingly popular. They’ve replaced the Hall effect because they’re even more accurate.
We’ve reached the limit of our customisation options for PS5. But the PS6 controller will be launched soon.
What do you expect from the PS6 controller?
Sony will be improving feel and ergonomics and creating new ways to interact. A year ago, they filed a patent application for a heat transfer module with separate heating and cooling zones in the controller handles. I also expect certain features currently in demand in the premium and esports sector to make their way into the mainstream. The trend is clearly customisation and performance.
Will the next generation of consoles feature TMR or Hall effect sticks?
I’d be surprised if they didn’t. TMR sticks are currently considered the next evolutionary step because they offer greater precision and efficiency.
In addition to technology, cost, availability and mass production also play an important role. That’s why the best technical solution isn’t automatically the one that’s installed in millions of controllers.
That’s not going to make consoles cheaper, is it? What kind of people are willing to pay 200 to 300 francs for a controller anyway?
The kind who want to win at Call of Duty. There’s no way around controllers like these, if that’s what you want. Our customers are aged between 16 and 70. They want controllers that are built to last. And you can feel the difference in quality in our controllers right away.
Why don’t you make controllers for other consoles?
Because the demand isn’t big enough. For every 100 PlayStation controllers, we’re getting three requests for Xbox. Although the demand has been rising somewhat recently. We tried catering for the Switch, but that didn’t work out. Switch users simply aren’t willing to spend as much money on Mario Kart. The competitive scene is smaller on Nintendo than on other platforms.
How has the market changed in recent years?
The competition is getting tougher. This is particularly the case with Chinese suppliers. Five years ago, nobody had heard of any of them; today, they’re everywhere. Companies such as Gamesir are undercutting the market with low prices. It’s just like with electric cars. Mind you, that doesn’t mean they’re not good.
**How do you keep up?****
The key difference is that we implement our own developments. From design to CAD-based engineering to casting moulds: we develop and manufacture our components entirely in-house. This gives us full control over quality, precision and innovation, so can continue improving our products. We generally view the increasing competition as positive. The gaming market is large enough to accommodate various suppliers. Besides, competition is good for business.
What do you make of the Steam controller?
(Makes a face). The concept will never catch on. The controller is cool for Steam users, but not for anyone else.
You’ve pretty much maxed out the PS5 controller. Have you set your sights on a new product yet?
In September, we’ll be taking a look at Logitech’s Pro X2 Superstrike gaming mouse and do the same thing we did with the PS5 controller. In other words, you’ll be able to use our configurator to build your very own custom mouse.
As a child, I wasn't allowed to have any consoles. It was only with the arrival of the family's 486 PC that the magical world of gaming opened up to me. Today, I'm overcompensating accordingly. Only a lack of time and money prevents me from trying out every game there is and decorating my shelf with rare retro consoles.
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