Evolution comes slowly in nature, but in technology it can often come all at once. Since Atari proliferated the joystick, and Nintendo got the D-Pad right on the first go, we’ve got used to the status quo of how we interact with our games over the past fifty years. Now though, Victrix are bringing evolution to the arcade stick, by… getting rid of the stick.
Have you ever tried to rewrite your brain? That’s what using the Victrix Pro KO Leverless feels like if you’re coming to it after years of using a regular arcade stick. Like the deeply unusual Azeron Cyborg, Victrix are rewriting how we interact with games. Leverless sticks have been around for a while, but this is their first true foray into the mainstream thanks to Victrix’s newfound role as one of Turtle Beach’s subsidiaries.
The Pro KO Leverless Fight Stick has an RRP of £229.99 and comes in one colour scheme: black. While our review unit was an Xbox Series, Xbox One and PC compatible edition, there’s also a PS5/PS4/PC-flavoured one as well. In the box is the unit itself, a 3-metre braided cable in Victrix’s trademark purple, a fabric carry bag with the Victrix logo, and a breakaway USB-C adaptor to prevent any unwanted mishaps when someone trips over your cable.
One of the most surprising things when you first take the Pro KO Leverless out of the box is just how slim it is. With a super slim profile, it’s vastly thinner than Victrix’s headline Pro Arcade line or indeed any other major fight stick on the market. Despite its size, there’s still a decent heft to it, which you can probably attribute to the anodised aluminium body.
The underside is wholly covered by a chunky rubber grip plate, once again in vibrant Victrix purple, and there’s then a series of release catches so you can pop the top plate off to reveal the inner workings of the stick. It’s worth noting that the underside is more or less completely flat, and there’s no raised or lowered areas to reduce the grippy surface making contact with the table. The Pro KO Leverless certainly isn’t going anywhere once you put it on a table, and without the added leverage of an actual stick, it stays put on your lap too.
Underneath the metal case is an exciting builder’s kit of stick parts, and it’s refreshingly easy to customise the Pro KO Leverless when you compare it to other sticks. There’s a set of tongs to pull the buttons, switches, and their surrounds out from the housing, as well as four additional switch internals and the requisite button units.
There’s four circular cover plates, so you can block off up to four of the button spaces, or you can run with anything up to a full complement of 16 inputs. Because of those cover plates and the spare buttons included, you can design your own personal layout and then easily implement it. Don’t like it? Simply try something else. It takes moments to unhook the front cover and a couple of seconds to pull each of the buttons out. It’s satisfying and slick and makes the Pro KO Leverless incredibly easy to live with. There’s no wiring, no soldering, and no worrying with the Pro KO.
The other neat little feature is a locking mechanism for the cable connection. A spring-loaded door opens on the rear of the stick and then cradles the cable once you’ve inserted it. With this setup, you won’t have to worry about it coming loose mid-tournament and suffering the indignation of defeat when Ken simply stops moving.
Alternatively, when you’re at home you can add the breakaway attachment so if someone trips over the cable, it won’t rip your £230 fight stick out of your lap. Everywhere you look, the Pro KO Leverless shows signs of intelligent design and thoughtful implementation, and it makes for a great user experience.
At first, interacting with the Pro KO Leverless is more akin to typing on a laptop than using a fight stick. Your left hand utilises the four directional inputs, while your right rests over the eight traditional input buttons. The Cherry MX Speed Silver buttons feel fantastic beneath your fingers, with a good range of travel and you get a reassuringly solid response from each activation.
The top row of buttons gives you access to the traditional Xbox Home, Menu, Options, and Share inputs, while adding in additional access such as muting chat from a headset connected via the 3.5mm socket or altering the RGB lighting. There’s also the tournament-required toggle to lock all of these buttons off, so you don’t pause your opponent to death.
Each of the button surrounds can light up in a variety of hues thanks to the inclusion of RGB. We can all agree that this makes any gaming device better, and here you can choose between a host of colours and different effects directly on the stick, including one of the ugliest setups I’ve ever seen where the buttons are all different colours. I opted for solid purple, because, well, it’s a Victrix stick, and because it looks cool.
If you want to go even deeper, there’s the Victrix Control Hub app, which lets you dig into the lighting even further, as well as update your stick’s firmware and more.
I think I’m a leverless convert. My traditional arcade stick skills have never fully eclipsed my ability with a controller, despite years of trying, and the Pro KO Leverless feels far more intuitive than I could have ever expected. After adjusting to the different way of interacting with my games, I think my reaction times are vastly improved, and aside from that, I haven’t experienced the same level of fatigue from long sessions as I did with a traditional stick.
The Pro KO Leverless won’t be for everybody, and if you’re looking for one of the absolute best fight sticks on the market, Victrix’s Pro Arcade fight stick is a delight to own. There is also a leverless version if you want the top-end leverless experience, but it’s a further £100, and far bigger and bulkier than the Pro KO. Alternatively, the Razer Kitsune is Razer’s entry in the leverless category, and can be found on sale for around the same price as the Pro KO. However, you lose the button customisation of the Pro KO, which feels essential. You do gain Chroma RGB around the edges though, and you can buy official vinyl skins as well.