The Xbox One has officially received mouse and keyboard support

[Polycount]

What just happened? Back in September, Microsoft announced early plans to bridge the gap between consoles and PCs even further, by adding mouse and keyboard support to the Xbox One. Now, the company has put its money where its mouth is - the functionality has officially been enabled as part of the Xbox One's November update.

As exciting as this news is for those who prefer classic PC peripherals to console controllers, it's still worth keeping your expectations in check. As of today, Warframe and Fortnite are the only titles that can take advantage of the feature, and only a handful of additional games are currently guaranteed to support it in the future.

Some of these games include Deep Rock Galactic, Strange Brigade, Warhammer: Vermintide 2, War Thunder, X-Morph Defense, and Bomber Crew, all of which are reportedly getting the functionality later this month.

One of the primary reasons for this limited initial feature rollout is that it requires developers to code support for the mouse and keyboard into their titles; it's not just a switch they can flip at will. As such, for games that were designed specifically with controllers in mind, don't be surprised if mouse and keyboard support never arrives.

With that said, it's not as if there's no incentive for developers to overcome those roadblocks. Some PC gamers undoubtedly refuse to use a regular controller at all, and thus may decide not to purchase console games for that reason alone. If more developers enable support for the mouse and keyboard in their Xbox titles, it could be enough to net them some additional sales, though it's impossible to say how many.

Regardless, if you want to try out the new feature for yourself, all you need to do is hook up a USB-powered mouse and keyboard to your system. It sounds like both wired and wireless devices will work, and we encourage you to let us know in the comments what your experiences are like.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/77430-xbox-one-has-officially-received-mouse-keyboard-support.html

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

If all console games supported keyboard/mouse I would certainly then consider a console. Though knowing how much more powerful and customizable PC based gaming can be, it would be a hard sale. Plus, now we have VR, which is pretty much all I play now. Though I'm not at all your average gamer so this is all kind of moot point.

 

[funglebuddy]

Honestly I dont see an opportunity I would use the keyboard/mouse combo for any game on the xbox one. If I want to use a keyboard and mouse ill use my pc.

 

[Nero7]

Fantastic news, this is gonna make a lot of games a lot more enjoyable and might even bring strategy games like Total War to it.

Last console that supported it was the Dreamcast?

 

[Xclusiveitalian]

I feel bad for controller users in FPS's who are going to get absolutely destroyed by the precision of mouse and Keyboard.

 

[m4a4]

I feel bad for controller users in FPS's who are going to get absolutely destroyed by the precision of mouse and Keyboard.

That will be up to the developers. I doubt they'll lump both of the groups together intentionally without providing a choice to the controller player (if they support it in the first place).

 

[Nero7]

I feel bad for controller users in FPS's who are going to get absolutely destroyed by the precision of mouse and Keyboard.

Auto aim actually makes them better than 99% of all pc players.


Hey age of empires 4 could come to Xbox with this.

 

[bas416]

If ths makes RTS titles come to xbox I will buy one for sure.

 

[ET3D]

I said it before, but I'll say it again. The Xbox could be a great desktop replacement for people who don't need a real PC. Buying an Xbox for the kids to use for web browsing and gaming seems more effective than buying a similarly priced PC.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

I said it before, but I'll say it again. The Xbox could be a great desktop replacement for people who don't need a real PC. Buying an Xbox for the kids to use for web browsing and gaming seems more effective than buying a similarly priced PC.

Indeed, you don't have to put up with all the Windows 10 bullhunky.

 

[ghostf1re]

This is excellent news not just from a game controlling aspect, but because it will open up more possibilities for cross-platform play. One of the biggest things holding people back was mouse and keyboard vs controller. With allowing keyboard and mouse support to the consoles, the excuses are going to start to run out for allowing cross play.

 

[JMike]

This is excellent news not just from a game controlling aspect, but because it will open up more possibilities for cross-platform play. One of the biggest things holding people back was mouse and keyboard vs controller. With allowing keyboard and mouse support to the consoles, the excuses are going to start to run out for allowing cross play.

We share the same thinking behind that new feature.

 

[mo_gallakonokis]

I feel bad for controller users in FPS's who are going to get absolutely destroyed by the precision of mouse and Keyboard.

Agreed, I think this will ruin every fps for controller users.

 

[Xclusiveitalian]

Auto aim actually makes them better than 99% of all pc players......

https://gizmodo.com/5593116/were-pc-gamers-too-good-for-microsofts-cross-platform-gaming-project

"I've heard from reliable sources that during the development they brought together the best console gamers to play mediocre PC gamers at the same game... and guess what happened? They pitted console gamers with their "console" controller, against PC gamers with their keyboard and mouse.

The console players got destroyed every time. So much so that it would be embarrassing to the XBOX team in general had Microsoft launched this initiative."

 

[mo_gallakonokis]

https://gizmodo.com/5593116/were-pc-gamers-too-good-for-microsofts-cross-platform-gaming-project

"I've heard from reliable sources that during the development they brought together the best console gamers to play mediocre PC gamers at the same game... and guess what happened? They pitted console gamers with their "console" controller, against PC gamers with their keyboard and mouse.

The console players got destroyed every time. So much so that it would be embarrassing to the XBOX team in general had Microsoft launched this initiative."

Very cool article that backs up my thoughts. All I've ever wanted from a cross-platform perspective is to be able to play with my friends who have a PlayStation.

 

[Nero7]

https://gizmodo.com/5593116/were-pc-gamers-too-good-for-microsofts-cross-platform-gaming-project

"I've heard from reliable sources that during the development they brought together the best console gamers to play mediocre PC gamers at the same game... and guess what happened? They pitted console gamers with their "console" controller, against PC gamers with their keyboard and mouse.

The console players got destroyed every time. So much so that it would be embarrassing to the XBOX team in general had Microsoft launched this initiative."

Guess what those tests were without:
AUTO AIM

One of the games with the strongest auto aim in multiplayer is Call of Duty. Now guess where PC players cry the most about controller users having massive advantage? The Call of Duty PC forums.

Now when you take a game without AUTO AIM like Quake 3 or CS:GO on console then the controller is at a massive disadvantage.

 

[ET3D]

Agreed, I think this will ruin every fps for controller users.

First, this needs to be qualified as 'multiplayer fps' (the most successful are, but there are still gamers who enjoy single player). Beyond this, that's one reason why Microsoft makes developer roll this out selectively and detect the control method. That way it's possible to pit controller players vs. other controller players and kb/mouse vs kb/mouse.

 

[JcTpc]

This was the article that convinced me to buy and Xbox One X on Black Friday. My arthritis is really bad and I can no longer use a controller without severe pain after a few minutes of playing. I really hope the game creators will get on board and make using a keyboard and mouse a reality for all games!