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Mouse and keyboard support is coming to the Xbox One

You'll be able to use any USB keyboard to play games on your Xbox One, but only if the developer enables it.

Sean Buckley Social Media Producer
2 min read
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The line between PC and console gaming just got a little bit blurrier: keyboard and mouse support is coming to the Xbox One.

That's not too much of a surprise if you've been keeping tabs on rumors for the last few months -- but on a recent Xbox Insider livestream, Microsoft's VP of gaming, Phil Spencer, officially announced it: Support for PC gaming standard controls is headed to the company's game console.

That support won't be universal though. Spencer clarified that yes, the Xbox One is getting mouse and keyboard support, but it won't be coming to every game. The decision is up to developers. In other words, you won't be able to bring WASD controls to Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 multiplayer unless Treyarch wants you to. Developers may also have the option to sequester players by control type too, meaning keyboard and mouse players might be matched only to other players using a keyboard and mouse.

Ultimately, Spencer sees the move as a tool for developers -- one that might bring more games to the platform. 

"There are some games out there that require mouse and keyboard and those can't come to console today," he said. "If we put this capability in the hands of developers, we'll get more of those games."

Any standard USB mouse and keyboard will work with the Xbox One, but Spencer also said Microsoft is partnering with Razer to build a keyboard and mouse combo specifically for the Xbox. They didn't reveal what form, exactly, that peripheral would take, but Razer certainly has experience; the company has even built a mouse and keyboard design specifically for use on a couch: the Razer Turret .

Xbox One mouse and keyboard support will appear in Xbox Preview in October and will be supported by Warframe at launch.

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