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Xbox One Keyboard and Mouse Support Announced, to Roll Out in Coming Weeks

Xbox One Keyboard and Mouse Support Announced, to Roll Out in Coming Weeks

By Akhil Arora | Updated: 26 September 2018 14:57 IST

Highlights

Keyboard, mouse support coming to Xbox One
Warframe will be one of the first titles
Partnership with Razer confirmed

Microsoft announced Tuesday that it will start rolling out keyboard and mouse support on Xbox One for Xbox Insiders – beta testers who agree to test upcoming console updates – in the coming weeks. The free-to-play shooter Warframe will be one of the first titles to have it. Microsoft is also partnering with peripheral manufacturer Razer, as a report from June had claimed. More info will be revealed in the November 10 episode of Inside Xbox.

Keyboard and mouse support won’t be enabled by default for Xbox One games and will instead be “added on a title-by-title basis, entirely at developers’ discretion”, Microsoft noted and added: “Each development team knows their titles best and we support them in creating the right experience for their games as they see fit, to ensure an optimal and fair gaming experience.”

The last bit – fair gaming experience – is crucial on consoles, since keyboard and mouse support affect competitive multiplayer. The June report carried an internal Microsoft presentation which said that developers would be able to detect whether a keyboard/ mouse is connected and then restrict them accordingly, with Microsoft suggesting developers to have separate matchmaking lists for the two groups but also encouraging them to see how keyboard-mouse players compete against controller players and tweak accordingly.

Games such as Fortnite have taken the former route, opting to segregate keyboard and mouse players on consoles from the ones using controllers, and pairing them with PC players. With the new announcement, Xbox One joins PS4 in officially supporting keyboard and mouse inputs.

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Further reading: Xbox One, Microsoft, Razer, Warframe

Akhil Arora Email Akhil

Akhil Arora covers entertainment for Gadgets 360, interviewing stars such as Christian Bale and Anurag Kashyap, covering series premieres, product and service launches across the globe, and looking at American blockbusters and Indian dramas from a global socio-political and feminist perspective. As a Rotten Tomatoes-certified film critic, Akhil has reviewed over 150 movies and TV shows in over half a decade at Gadgets 360. When he is not completely caught up with new film and TV releases, Akhil ...More