14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has confirmed that the new Xbox One controller will be available for PC gamers as a standalone accessory and will work on the platform via a software update that will hit in 2014.
Quite a few PC gamers use the current Xbox 360 controller in different games for its better feel as opposed to the standard mouse and keyboard.
As such, when the Xbox One controller was revealed, many PC users hoped that Microsoft would continue the tradition and allow for it to be used on the computer platform, not just on its next-gen console.
Sadly, this is easier said than done, as apparently a lot of work is needed to make the new device work on the PC, largely because it has quite a few new internal features, like the impulse triggers, not to mention the new wireless protocol.
"As we've stated, the Xbox One controller, although it looks similar in many ways, shares no underlying technology with the current Xbox 360 controller. 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," a Microsoft representative told CVG.
Due to these differences, it will take some time before PC games with support for Xbox 360 controllers will be able to interact with the Xbox One device.
"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," the company added.
Microsoft estimates that it will be done with the work in 2014 but it hasn’t offered a concrete date.