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Xbox One consoles will soon support keyboard and mouse input

Xbox One consoles will soon support keyboard and mouse input

Gamers will soon be able to use a keyboard and mouse to play select Xbox One games.

During an Inside Xbox stream this week, Microsoft announced that Digital Extremes’ free-to-play RPG Warframe would be the first title on Xbox to support the new input options.

But while Xbox consoles will now accept keyboard inputs, don’t expect all games to make use of the feature. Instead, developers will choose on a case-by-case basis whether their games will support keyboard-and-mouse control.

“You shouldn’t expect that every game on the platform now supports mouse and keyboard,” said Xbox head Phil Spencer. “It’s really about developer choice.

“These are tools for developers. There are certain games out there that require mouse and keyboard, and those can’t come to console today. If we put those tools in the hands of developers, we’ll get more of those games.”

In a post on the Xbox blog, director of program management Jason Donald said: “It’s important to note that mouse and keyboard support for games is added on a title-by-title basis, entirely at developers’ discretion. For all other titles, nothing changes.”

Existing USB keyboards and mice will work with the Xbox One. In that same post, Microsoft confirmed it is working with Razer to create a bespoke mouse and keyboard for the console.

More details on the collaboration and future games supporting the input options will be revealed on an Inside Xbox stream on November 10th.


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Staff Writer

Natalie Clayton is an Edinburgh-based freelance writer and game developer. Besides PCGamesInsider and Pocketgamer.biz, she's written across the games media landscape and was named in the 2018 GamesIndustry.biz 100 Rising Star list.