Xbox One controller support coming to PC “very soon”

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May 23, 2014

Gamers hoping to play PC games with an Xbox One controller won't have to wait much longer to do so, as Microsoft says PC support for its newest system's controller will be available "very soon."

In response to a NeoGAF post (via Polygon) lamenting the lack of official PC support for the controller, Xbox Live director of programming Larry Hryb, better known as Major Nelson, replied, "Soon. Very soon." Unfortunately, he didn't offer up anything more specific than that, so we remain in the dark as to exactly when PC drivers will be released.

Last year, Microsoft announced support for the controller was coming in 2014, but insisted that making it happen isn't as simple as some might believe. "New wireless protocol, combined with the ability to work in 'wired' mode, and the addition of features like Impulse triggers, means that new software has to be written and optimized for the PC," the company said in a statement in August. "There is also some work that we need to do to make sure that existing PC games that support the Xbox 360 controller, will work with the Xbox One controller. While it seems trivial, it's actually quite a bit of dedicated work for all that to be seamless for the user."

When the drivers are finally released, Xbox One controllers that come with the system (as well as those sold on their own) will work with PCs, as is the case with Xbox 360 controllers. In other words, there will be no need to purchase a controller designed for use with PCs, although, as with the 360 controller, Microsoft may sell PC-specific controllers at some point in the future.

While we wait for Microsoft's drivers, there are unofficial ways for making the Xbox One controller and the PlayStation 4 controller function with PCs.