Project Lightning is ZeroStick's own 8K board — a performance-first controller platform designed in-house, from the traces up, and built exclusively for PC. It replaces a standard pad's electronics with our board: native 8,000 Hz polling, response measured in microseconds, and the drift-resistant TMR sticks our controllers are already known for.
A standard controller reports to your PC up to 1,000 times a second. Lightning reports 8,000 times a second — your input arrives up to eight times sooner, every single frame.
PC only. This is not a console controller — it does not connect to a PS5, Xbox or Switch, and it never will; consoles cap how fast any controller may report, which defeats the entire point of this board. Play on console? The ZeroStick EXO is the product built for you.
Built for exactly one thing
Native 8K polling
8,000 reports a second on PC — not overclocked, not software-forced. Native, from the board itself.
TMR drift-free sticks
The same magnetic TMR stick technology in every ZeroStick build today — stable accuracy that doesn't wear into drift.
Microsecond response
Every part of the signal path chosen for speed. Nothing between your thumb and the game that doesn't have to be there.
A shell you already know
Familiar controller in your hands — Lightning changes what's inside, not what you've spent years mastering.
How you'll get one
Built controllers
Complete controllers built by ZeroStick on the Lightning board — tuned, calibrated, and backed by our 5-year stick warranty.
Send-in upgrades
Send us your own controller and we install Lightning inside it — your shell, our board.
DIY kits
The board and a pre-wired kit for builders who want to do the install themselves.
Questions we're already hearing
What is Project Lightning?
ZeroStick's own controller board: our design, our branding, our firmware. Drop it into a controller shell and the controller becomes an 8K-polling, microsecond-response instrument.
Does it work on console?
No. Project Lightning is a PC-only controller. It does not connect to a PS5, Xbox or Switch — consoles cap how fast any controller may report, and an 8K board inside a capped console would be a fast engine behind a closed gate. We would rather say that plainly than sell you one for the wrong machine. If you play on console, the ZeroStick EXO is the product designed for you.
When can I buy one?
It's in development now. The fastest way to know the moment it's real: the launch-updates button above.
Project Lightning is in active development — specifications, availability and pricing may change, and the board image above is a concept render of our own design, not a photograph. DualSense and DualShock are trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment; Xbox is a trademark of Microsoft. ZeroStick modifies genuine first-party hardware and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sony or Microsoft.