Minor Microsoft SNAFU detected. Turns out it has been shipping Xbox controllers without batteries for months (via Neowin). Belatedly, Microsoft is now compensating customers by sending out a rechargeable battery kit, plus a USB Type-C cable for free.
Xbox controllers are actually a little old school in having a user-accessible compartment that takes plain old AA batteries. Normally, the controllers ship with a couple of Duracell batteries to ensure that customers can game right out of the box.
Somehow, however, that hasn't been happening since December of last year, and Microsoft has now caught on to the oversight. In a post on X, the official Xbox Support account said, "A limited number of controllers have shipped without batteries since December. If you received one of these controllers, go here aka.ms/batteries for a rechargeable battery on us. All controllers moving forward will include batteries."
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