Seamus Blackley was a video game developer for Xbox and helped design an early prototype controller. The first-generation Xbox controller, originally nicknamed the "Fatty" and later "The Duke", was originally the controller bundled with Xbox systems for all territories except Japan. According to Blackley, the Duke name came from Brett Schnepf, the project manager of hardware for Microsoft during the Xbox's development, whose son was named Duke. The controller was oversized and was not very well received. While the product was being announced some audience members threw objects at Blackley on stage. The controller has been criticized for being bulky compared to other video game controllers; it was awarded "Blunder of the Year" by Game Informer in 2001, a Guinness World Record for the biggest controller in Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008, and was ranked the second worst video game controller ever by IGN editor Craig Harris. Over fifteen years later Seamus Blackley contacted Phil Spencer, the head of the Xbox division, and pitched an idea to revive the old controller, following a series of joking posts through social media that showed strong consumer desire for the controller. Spencer gave Blackley the rights to the Duke controller. The original design was modified with some subtle changes to the bumper design, shoulder buttons and overall layout to make it compatible with the Xbox One, as well as an OLED screen that displays the original Xbox boot sequence when turned on. The Duke was released for Xbox One and PC on April 30, 2018 through a partnership with Hyperkin.
