How Dirty is Your Gaming Console?

Have you ever wondered how dirty your controllers are? After swab analysis, it has been seen that gaming consoles are one of the dirtiest things.

The video gaming industry is booming and so is the rivalry between gamers who claim gaming consoles to be the best. However, gamers have the worst rank when it comes to cleanliness. From personal hygiene to food waste, almost every gamer fails to clean their keyboards or controllers, irrespective of how much time they spend with them.

Betway Online Casino has conducted an experiment to analyze 12 sets of consoles and computers that have been chosen randomly. The findings are just astounding.

Yeast, mold, and bacteria are all that your consoles harbor. So, you can imagine just how much bacteria is on the average console. Let’s take a look at each gaming consoles and find out how dirty are your controllers,

 

1. PlayStation

PlayStation fans should know that even the best controller of the current generation is the least clean. Only PCs show more bacteria than this.

All in all, the sample controller analyzed had just 72.5 colony-forming bacteria units for each swab taken. That is 2.4 times more than what you find on a toilet seat.

The joystick and the buttons have the worst bacterial growth. In this case, the medium number of bacterial colony-forming units was 190. This is similar to any other platform.

 

2. Xbox

This is the cleaner one among the lot. The consoles that have tested showed median colony-forming units of 62.5 per swab. This is more than double what is found in a toilet seat. However, even though the number on the triggers has been lowest across all platforms tested at just 1.5, the controller handles have shown the highest amount of bacteria where the count is 82.5.

The XBOX has also shown a few dirtiest samples where the worst one tested has 5,614 colony-forming units on the buttons of the controller, which was not a common occurrence.

 

3. PC

Often, the PC is an outsider discussion when it comes to gaming consoles. However, when it comes to bacteria, it is worse by a considerable margin. Albeit, the keyboards show enough signs of colony-forming units with 165 medians per swab, it is just the mouse that picks up the maximum amount of bacteria.

The mouse shows a median of 247.5 colony-forming units that is just 27.5 lesser than the kitchen surface. As it is an electrical component, it doesn’t receive regular cleaning with disinfectants.

Even the ON button on the PC is worse than most of the places tested.

 

4. Switch

It is one of the cleanest versions of gaming. The switch has a median of just 55 colony-forming units per swab. But it is still 25 more than what you will find on the toilet seat.

Controllers under the Microscope

The analysis has shown that controllers can get dirty. It can collect dirt in various ways. It can come from spit particles as you shout or from picking your nose.

 

Xbox vs. PlayStation: The Rivalry Continues

For years, these two have been fighting for dominance. The rivalry is further ignited with the launch of Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5. However, they both have been put to test to find out which one is the dirtiest.

 

Types of Bacteria Growing on the Devices

What’s horrifying is gaming consoles are three times dirtier than a toilet seat. The types of bacteria that are most common are,

• Bacillus SPP
• Micrococcus SSP
• Mould

 

The Truth behind Cleanliness

The test has shown that even in the cleanest controllers, there is significant bacteria build-up. Just Xbox controllers had a lower amount of colony-forming units than a toilet seat. So, it means the handles, the keyboards, etc. are in need of disinfecting.

Even though the bacteria are harmless, a few can be harmful when inhaled in significant amounts. You should clean your equipment at least once a week.

 

Tips to Clean Your Console

• Unplug the console.
• Use a cleaning solution that is plastic-friendly and bleach-free.
• For cleaning the console, use a dry cloth such as microfiber. This removes fingerprints or dust.
• Make sure that you wipe the surface underneath the console to remove the dust.

Make sure you don’t use too much liquid for the controller. For keyboards, you can get special cleaning solutions.