Sony announces Project Defiant fight stick for PS5 and PC

The first-ever fight stick designed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, codenamed Project Defiant, is coming in 2026.

Project Defiant can be connected wirelessly to the PlayStation 5 through PlayStation Link technology with ‘ultra-low latency’ or be used on PS5 and PC with a wire.

During the State of Play presentation on June 4th, Sony revealed a lot of fighting game news for the PlayStation 5. This included a new Marvel fighting game that looks to be rivaling 2XKO. It only made sense that Sony would then reveal a fight stick that was developed by the PlayStation team and Mark Julio, Evo’s Business Development Director and ‘leading authority on all things arcade sticks.’

“The team worked really hard on this one. Please look forward to it,” Julio tweeted after the announcement.

Seeing Julio’s involvement won over the fighting game community, with many expressing excitement for its arrival next year knowing that the team behind the stick was so involved in the fighting game scene.

Project Defiant features toolless interchangeable restrictor gates for the stick, including a square, circle and octagon, buttons with mechanical switches and a touch pad. It will also have a storage compartment for restrictor gates and a PS Link USB adapter. Most importantly, the design is made to be comfortable for long fighting game sessions.

The stick will also have a sling carry case so it can be brought to tournaments, locals and friends’ hosues with ease.

“In the months ahead, we look forward to sharing even more details about Project Defiant ahead of its launch in 2026, including the final product name and launch date,” the Sony Blog concluded. “Stay tuned for more details.”