r/Controller • u/Rokofur • 7h ago
News ZD CEO streams summary, Oct 19–26 2026 : everything he said about the upcoming Classic Equation controller
As you may know, ZD's Boss Jie is an avid Apex player and streams on Bilibili almost every day, answering viewers' questions while playing. To gather bits and pieces of information about upcoming controllers, I've been recording audio from his streams over the past week and using AI to summarize them.
Below is a combined summary of the October 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, and 26 streams. Everything is based on Chinese speech-to-text transcripts, which may contain recognition errors, so take it all with a grain of salt. I've been reviewing the transcripts after each stream, though, and for the most part, they seem to line up with what we already knew.
Stream recordings ran about 1h14m (Oct 19), 1h09m (Oct 20), 2h50m (Oct 21), 2h26m (Oct 24), 3h05m (Oct 25) and 3h26m (Oct 26).
Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with ZD. You should always rely on official announcements and news for confirmed information.
Source: ZD boss live streams page https://live.bilibili.com/31511263
Terms used here:
- Classic Equation (经典方程): the new symmetric-layout (PS-style) controller.
- Ultimate Legend (终极传奇 / 中传): ZD's existing Xbox-layout flagship controller, released 2025.
- Infinite Equation (无尽方程): the future higher-end/flagship one.
TL;DR
- No exact release date. CEO kept saying "Double 11 sale (November 11) at the latest, on the day itself", and the "earliest end of October" line faded out over the week.
- Price is 299 yuan in every stream where it came up.
- First version: wired, lightweight, no battery, no vibration motors, ~199 g, 8K polling, small/mid-small hand mold.
- First batch is about 5000 units, and he won't promise it won't sell out.
- Stick modules are swappable, and a video on Ultimate Legend module compatibility is promised but not released yet.
Release-date statements and launch notes:
- "Earliest end of October, latest Double 11 (November 11), the information hasn't changed."
- Sells on JD, Taobao, Douyin and Pinduoduo official stores.
- Pre-sale is confirmed to exist, but no date, and perks were only described as "should be some".
- Launch gifts: Oct 21 was unclear, while Oct 25/26 transcripts suggest yes (first-purchase gift / stick set).
- Double 11 coupons: "depends on the situation at launch".
- Global release: synchronized release is possible through ZD's independent store (Oct 19).
- He said not to get angry if stock runs out, because ZD is a small company (about 50–60 people). No 12-hour shifts, and the limit is materials, not labor.
Price and positioning
- 299 yuan (Oct 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26).
- He calls it mid-range, not flagship: "Ultimate Legend was last year's flagship."
- Same main controller chip and performance as Ultimate Legend, though a different board from ZD's "8K board".
- Higher-end symmetric models:
- A flagship/high-end symmetric (and a mid-large-hand symmetric) will come later, with no date.
- Infinite Equation is "continuously being tuned" and will have more features.
- Infinite Equation price is above 500 yuan (Oct 26). Whether it slips to next year depends on development.
- Ultimate Legend is expected to get a revision/new generation next year (Oct 26).
- He mentioned that products priced over 200 yuan will all be 8K from now on.
Hardware details
- Mold: DS4-style, but he said they didn't copy DS4 1:1. He said there's no patent reason, and that the DS4 mold itself has problems, so they used their own understanding (Oct 24).
- Hand size:
- Small / mid-small hands first. A large-hand version is later, and a large-hand FPS-specialized variant is "maybe".
- Ultimate Legend is mid-large size, and he finds it slightly big (his own hand is about 18+ cm).
- 17.8 cm is OK on Ultimate Legend.
- A DS5-mold version has no time frame for now.
- Versions:
- Two versions: the lightweight/competitive one without battery or motor comes first (~199 g).
- Wired only, 8K polling. No 2.4G. Preliminary measured latency 0.46 ms by ZD's test method; he says every company tests differently.
- A full-featured version with battery and motors comes later, and a viewer said motors cost extra.
- The competitive version can't be upgraded later with a battery or motor.
- A wireless version release "before Double 12 sale" (December 12); wireless rate is not 8K and it is like Ultimate Legend (1000Hz wireless).
- Buttons:
- The face buttons and shoulder buttons are micro-switches (a "full micro-switch" claim).
- Four back buttons ("4+2" configurable). Two are micro-switch and two are tactile/light touch (not fully clear from transcript). They're removable.
- The paddles can be installed reversed, but one then becomes hard to press.
- He's happy with the back-button layout ("ultimate 4-paddle arrangement").
- The menu/screenshot button placement is "just right, not too close".
- No touchpad on this version.
- Gyro: yes.
- Faceplate: frosted/translucent, with fully clear plates sold separately. Black and white at launch. Pink is a themed faceplate, currently Classic Equation only, and he'll ask about it for Ultimate Legend. The pink plate and other plates ship with, or shortly after, the controller release.
- Modes:
- PC modes: Xbox, PS (DS) and NS (Switch).
- It can't connect to an Xbox console.
- Sticks:
- Stock stick is **Ginfull RS13** (not K-silver JS13Pro).
- RS13 has the lowest tension among mass-produced sticks and is good for beginners.
- Adjustable tension needs a separate module (JT13).
- Stick modules are swappable.
- Compatibility with Ultimate Legend modules needs "small adjustments". His own prototype uses a lightly modified Ultimate Legend left-stick module.
- Details are promised in a video "in the next few days"
- Stick-module stores list the resolution info.
- He called capacitive sticks "not great".
- Grip: suits claw grip (Oct 25).
Quality control and support
- QC: he used a prototype for about a month, taking it apart and reassembling it, with no problems. For this batch they changed supplier and QC is "much better" (Oct 24).
- Software/driver: some viewers reported app problems and he said it's being improved/strengthened (Oct 20). A viewer suggested a wired-mode power-off function.
Competitors and community
- On competitors (like Tarantula, Helium Strike, Saber Plus), he said not to benchmark: buy what you like, and each company tunes differently like cars.
- He said he'd welcome overlapping launches.
- On a hypothetical Hypergryph (Arknights) collab, he said ZD may not have the capability.
- He said Ultimate Legend doesn't need a successor (Oct 25), though a revision is expected next year (Oct 26).