Early last month, Sony unveiled its own arcade stick under the PlayStation brand, called Project Defiant. Now, it has been given a proper name – FlexStrike – to fit the game genre it was made for. Unfortunately, despite the proper marketing name, the company has not shared an exact release date beyond the 2026 window.
In terms of its functionality, Sony has not shared much that’s new with the FlexStrike. Instead, we got a slightly more expanded list of its wireless capabilities, particularly with the PlayStation Link dongle. To start, the arcade stick allows said dongle to also connect with a Pulse device simultaneously. But only the newer ones, as the company specifically mentions the Elite headset or Explore TWS buds.
PlayStation notes that the “FlexStrike wireless fight stick will feature an updated PlayStation Link USB adapter that is compatible with USB-C ports”. This suggests that it will come with its own in the box. Whether or not that’s the case, we’ll have to wait to find out. On that note, the company also notes you can connect two of these to a PS5 with a single dongle.
More minor features being expanded upon include the ability for the PlayStation FlexStrike and a DualSense controller to be connected at the same time to a PS5. Not something you usually worry about, but certainly useful for, say, the World Tour mode of Street Fighter 6. Finally, as a bonus, you get some degree of customisability as well as a lock button. The company has not expanded further on either of these unfortunately. But the latter is presumably so that you don’t accidentally hit pause during a tourney and disqualify yourself.
As mentioned, no release date for the PlayStation FlexStrike yet beyond the old 2026. But if you’re in Las Vegas to catch Evo live, the arcade stick and its sling carrying case will be on display at both the Fight Stick Museum and the Arc System Works booths. The latter especially makes sense as the two companies are working on Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls which also releases sometime next year.
(Source: PlayStation)
