Revolutionizing Game Controller Prototyping: Standard Pro 3D Printing Solutions for the Pros

     2026.01.14                          NextShapes,Standard Pro,3D Printing                ＜1 minute                                                                                     

In today’s fiercely competitive market for gaming consoles and PC peripherals, the speed and precision with which a new controller is brought to market can make or break a hardware manufacturer’s chances of capturing players' attention. Traditional methods of prototype creation, relying on CNC machining or inexpensive resins, present their own challenges: CNC is costly and time-consuming, while resin lacks durability and often distorts the tactile feel, significantly slowing down ergonomic design and functionality validation.

A prominent design studio, serving top-tier gaming console manufacturers, faced a critical challenge in preparing for the mass production validation of their next-generation revolutionary controller. With stringent confidentiality requirements and a tight development window, their R&D lead turned to NextShapes’ 3D printing solutions, looking for a material that could simultaneously meet the demands of high-durability testing, precise assembly validation, and realistic surface texture simulation.

In this article, we will explore how NextShapes’ Standard Pro material helped this design studio overcome key bottlenecks, accelerating the prototyping process and reshaping the development paradigm for future interactive devices.

Redefining Hardware Development with 3D Printing

“In the race to perfect interactive experiences, the ‘realism’ of fingertip feedback is everything. Standard Pro provides us with more than just a visual model; it’s a functional prototype that enables real material feedback and mechanical performance testing early in the design phase.”
— Senior Application Engineer, Design Studio

This design studio is a leading player in the consumer electronics design services industry, having contributed to multiple generations of mainstream game controllers. As a partner of NextShapes in the high-end prototyping sector, they have long sought breakthroughs in digital manufacturing technologies.

Faced with their next-generation controller project, the studio’s industrial design, structural engineering, and user experience teams all encountered a common challenge: could they find a material that, when 3D printed, would offer high dimensional stability for testing complex internal structures and button travel, while also delivering excellent surface texture (smooth, non-stick) and strength, simulating the final injection-molded casing’s grip and drop-resistance?

NextShapes recommended their Standard Pro 3D resin, which boasts high hardness and strength. Printed components such as the controller’s shell, trigger buttons, and shoulder buttons withstood tens of thousands of continuous presses without cracking or deforming—something typical resins couldn’t achieve. The smooth surface finish significantly reduced the need for post-processing, while the ergonomic grip areas felt comfortable enough to be used for hand-held testing and visual assessments. The team also leveraged Standard Pro’s range of nearly ten colors to quickly iterate different color schemes and material effects (like simulating rubber coatings), enabling rapid visual decision-making for CMF (color, material, finish) strategies.

“Player feedback on first touch is half the purchase decision. In the past, creating functional 3D print models took too long, and fragile prototypes couldn’t handle rigorous testing. We needed a solution that was both ‘press-ready’ and ‘realistic,’ to ensure that design validation kept pace with time.”
— R&D Director, Design Studio

A Milestone Achievement: From Single Prototype to Mass Production Testing

The key to success was transforming reliable single-unit prototypes into a stable supply of parallel test units. The studio quickly expanded its rapid prototyping center, deploying multiple high-precision 405nm LCD 3D printing machines, all using Standard Pro resin.

The fast-curing and cleaning properties of Standard Pro became the cornerstone for scalable production. Its rapid 3D printing cycles enabled around-the-clock operations, while its excellent cleaning characteristics ensured that resin remnants were thoroughly removed from complex internal channels, guaranteeing consistency across every batch of test units. All printed controller components underwent strict dimensional calibration, button force testing, and assembly simulations to ensure that feedback data could directly inform design adjustments for mass production molds.

During the project’s core validation phase, the studio’s 3D printing capabilities experienced a quantum leap. They were able to produce fully consistent high-precision functional prototypes for structural integrity testing, user experience blind tests, and marketing shoots—all within the same week.

“This completely transformed our testing process,” said the studio’s project manager. “We can now provide different departments with ‘usable’ and even ‘abusable’ test units simultaneously. The toughness of Standard Pro allows us to simulate compliance drop tests early on.”
— CEO, Design Studio

Beyond Prototypes: The Next Step for NextShapes and Hardware Innovation

Building on their success with this critical project, the design studio has now established the Standard Pro-powered rapid 3D printing system as a core standard for hardware development. However, their collaboration with NextShapes is pushing into even more forward-looking territory.

The studio’s CEO envisions the potential of high-precision 3D printing in small-batch, customized production and community-driven co-creation. For instance, they could create custom ergonomic controllers for professional eSports players, limited-edition color shells, or rapid prototypes for new game adaptations and special function modules. With Standard Pro’s engineering-grade strength, rich color options, and stable performance, it becomes a reliable choice for small-batch direct digital manufacturing.

Additionally, NextShapes is working with various gaming hardware companies, independent developers, and interaction design institutions. For education and cutting-edge design, Standard Pro—offering end-product-like performance at a relatively affordable cost and efficient workflow—has become the ideal tool for learning human-computer interaction design, hardware prototyping, and functionality validation. It significantly lowers the barrier to high-performance hardware innovation.

“Standard Pro’s application in controller projects is an upgrade to what we consider a ‘functional prototype,’” concluded NextShapes’ marketing director. “In the future, from adaptive triggers and modular controllers to entirely new motion-sensing devices, many hardware innovations will undergo their first round of ‘stress testing’ in the digital realm and seamlessly transition into tangible prototypes with this material. We’re committed to providing a complete solution—from design to validation—to empower the creators of the next-generation interactive devices.”

For all teams striving for rapid innovation and reliable verification in gaming hardware, NextShapes’ Standard Pro 3D resin and high-precision 3D printing models are becoming an indispensable accelerator for innovation.