One of the best retro gaming controllers we've ever tested is finally getting a successor
The 8BitDo Pro 3 has just been announced by the popular controller brand
It's due to release in August in the US, and October in the UK
Pre-orders have now begun at Amazon
Controller manufacturer 8BitDo has announced its next big gamepad, the 8BitDo Pro 3. It'll be a successor to the 8BitDo Pro 2, which remains listed in our guide to the best Xbox controllers and is a superb budget retro gaming option.
The brand revealed the 8BitDo Pro 3 controller via its official X / Twitter account. You're able to pre-order it now for $69.99 / £59.99 at Amazon, and it'll begin shipping from August 12, 2025 in the US. However, UK folks will seemingly have to wait a bit longer until October 10, 2025.
Color-wise it comes in three flavors; a SNES-inspired 'G Classic', a more traditional 'Gray', and an eye-catching 'Purple' variant.
The 8BitDo Pro 3 sounds like it has a mightily impressive feature set, packing Hall effect-like TMR thumbsticks, extra remappable bumper buttons, Hall effect triggers, and Trigger locks.
For me, though, the standout feature has to be its swappable magnetic face buttons, as well as the optional joystick modules that could make the 8BitDo Pro 3 perfect for the best fighting games. And much like the 8BitDo Pro 2 before it, likely also a great fit for retro gaming, be that on PC or via Nintendo Switch Online's various retro libraries.
On that note, 8BitDo has confirmed the controller is compatible with both Switch and Switch 2, as well as PC, Mac, SteamOS, and Android devices.
While this initial model doesn't appear to be compatible with Xbox like its predecessor, there's the possibility another model will be made for the console, as 8BitDo tends to do with its other pads including the 8BitDo Ultimate 2.
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