Keyboard and mouse support will make its Xbox One debut on Wednesday. The folks at Xbox made the announcement at the X018 fanfest in Mexico City over the weekend. Eight games are getting support this month including Fortnite and Warframe. Here’s how the first batch of games shakes out.
Keyboard/mouse support coming in November:
Fortnite
Warframe
Bomber Crew
Deep Rock Galactic
Strange Brigade
Vermintide 2
War Thunder
X-Morph Defense
And “support in the future.”
Children of Morta
DayZ
Minion Master
Moonlighter
Vigor
Warface
Wargroove
None of these scream Keyboard/mouse games. Then again, most games that need this support either skipped consoles altogether or developed gamepad control schemes to fit. Games like Divinity: Original Sin come to mind. Or, Command & Conquer back on the Xbox 360.
It’s cool that Fortnite players can see how they stack up against PC via cross-play with the same controls.
While most keyboard/mouse setups should work with no issues, Microsoft is partnering with Razer to deliver “Designed for Xbox mice and keyboards.” Something like the Razer Turret makes the most sense, but maybe Razer and Xbox have come up with an even better solution. We’ll see what they cooked up at CES in January.
New games, new genres?
Keyboard/mouse support for games already on Xbox One is cool and all, but it’s what support for this could do in the future that gets me excited. I love me some RTS games, and there are rumblings across the internet that Age of Empires and Rise of Nations could be coming to Xbox One soon.
The key here is if Microsoft makes gamepad control schemes a requirement. I would lean towards yes because the Xbox team doesn’t want to restrict anyone from playing. Here’s what they said about keyboard/mouse support over the weekend:
“All developers will have the tools they need to create tailored mouse and keyboard experiences for their games as they see fit to ensure a fair and fun experience for fans.”
I’m hopeful the added support means more PC-focused developers take another look at consoles. Games like They Are Billions, Stellaris, Total War, and many others deserve to be played by everyone.
Now, we wait. Porting some of the games I mentioned above isn’t as easy as hitting a switch. But at least the big ‘control’ issue is no longer a problem.
What games would you like to see make the jump from primarily PC only to consoles?