It's now possible to use an Xbox One controller on your PC. Microsoft released PC drivers for the controller on Major Nelson's blog today.

Games that already natively support the Xbox 360 controller will seamlessly support the Xbox One controller, as well.

You cannot, however, use the existing wireless dongle to use the controller wherever you'd like. Instead, the Xbox One controller must be connected with a micro USB cable to your PC.

That last wrinkle means it's not much use to me, but I'm glad to see support's finally arrived.

well, this is the pc, so people are bound to hack their way around that last point eventally.

No wireless? I'll stick to my Dualshock 4.

chill

Waiting for Mac compatibility

Do people prefer the controller over the 360?

That picture really makes me wish they'd re-release Halo and Halo 2 on Steam or another digital store. I sold all my discs forever ago.

Anyway... I'll replace my Xbox 360 pad with an Xbox One pad when I find one for a decent price. It's the best PC gamepad to have because it works with everything without configuration. I barely ever use it, but every once in a while you need it.

You'll get my 360 controller when you pry it from my cold, dead hands. Or when they release a wireless dongle for the xbone controller. Whichever comes first.

Cool. Does that mean PC ports of games that used the rumbling triggers in the console version (drawing a blank on any examples at the moment) will work as originally intended? Also does the headset support the higher sample rate that the controller is capable of? Or is this just an official re-jiggering hackjob of the existing 360 drivers?

I don't understand why it's so hard for them to do wireless on the PC. Is it just laziness?

Fantastic

It would require a wireless connection through an adapter. The 360 dongle uses a different wifi signal so they'll probably come out with something later in the year or so.

Follow suit, Sony, what's the hold up?

Awesome! I've been using my PS3 controller for a while cause I only have wireless 360 controllers but the PS3 setup is finicky and unreliable. Glad to be able to use my XBONE controller.

I wish sony would so the same

Good news, but I will wait for a wireless adapter. I think the One controller is a bit more comfortable.

My receiver for the 360 controller broke yesterday. Thinking about buying a DS4 instead but how are the community made drivers for that thing?

I am using normal 360 wireless controller with a dongle and I am very happy. No problems and need to upgrade

I literally JUST bought a DS4 yesterday to replace the 360 one i use for my PC...... ugh. Well, here's to hoping the DS4 is a better controller than the xbone controller. And that the MacGyver'd drivers for it aren't jenky.

I don't care for the new Xbox controller. The sticks are a little too loose.

@drpotato: Honestly, they're excellent. I've played a bunch of games with it, from regular pc releases to using it with emulators and it feels great with all of them.

Ah right, I forgot about the receive side.

Hooray? I mean, I've been trying to use the hacked driver to no avail, but yeah, that lack of wireless makes it only a novelty and not an upgrade to my 360 pad. Heck, I learned to solder to fix that stupid (prone to failure) 360 wireless dongle.

I'd love to become familiar with the One controller, but my familiarity is entirely based around Dead Rising 3 at this point and using it on the PC, I don't relish attaching one of my always too short micro USB cables as a compromise - UNLESS it means less input lag for Dark Souls.

I actually prefer the 360 controller after trying both; it fits better in my hands. It's nice that there are official drivers though, maybe once there's a wireless version I'll give the XBone controller another shot.

@defcomm said:

It would be amazing if Microsoft used something standard, like.. I don't know, Blu...

+1 to calling out Sony to release drivers for the DS4. Kinda interesting to see a picture of the controller linked to a Surface. I wonder how well it works?

This is good news for PC gamers. I really like the Xbox One controller. My only problem with it is the bumpers. They just feel so oddly placed. I feel like they're too forward. There's too much space between the bumpers and triggers. Gotta reach my fingers in a way that starts to wear out my hand after an hour or two. Only one of my friends (with Xbox Ones) have this same issue with the controller, so I'm sure its just my awkward hands. On the other hand, the Dualshock 4 is very comfortable for me to hold and use. Anybody else have this issue with the Xbox One controller? Regardless of the bumper placement, I still think the Xbox One controller is pretty great.

Wait.. What?

I assumed something so trivial would have been available since the controllers were out.

That's cool, if I ever get an Xbox one, I will be happy to be able to use it

@zikar: To be fair, they kind of do. There are a few games that work with the ds4, i can only think of one though. Rouge Legacy works with the ds4 with out any set up. PC ports of games just have to support the ds4 and put the playstation button prompts in, and problem solved.

I am 99% sure this is all Phil Spencer's doing, he shut the moneygrubbing suits up and got this done instead of MS dropping an fancy computer-only exclusive pad for premium cost. Dude's done and doing good for us all.

At least two people who worked on home-made drivers for it were hit by C&D papers from Microsoft. Then Phil Spencer came in. Now we're here.

Dope, the Xbone controller is much better than the 360, all they need now is a wired USB version and it will be perfect (same with the DS4.)

The Xbone gamepad only works wired on PC, at least for the time being.

Is it really that much better than the 360 gamepad? Apart from the better rumble and (obviously) better D-Pad, two features that aren't really that important for me, is there anything else that makes it worth the upgrade?

Came here to post this. I know you probably want to promote it with a Microsoft-published game and all, but in the midst of constant "Halo HD Remasters"-to-PC rumours, not the smartest move to make.

Not the biggest Halo fan by any stretch, but if a Trilogy set came out on PC, or some sort of anthology that also included ODST and Reach, for a reasonable price (~€40), I'd snap that up. Wouldn't expect Halo 4 to be part of that, but you'd never know.

@nightriff: Hell yeah after using the One's controller for a couple weeks after I got mine and going back to the 360 pad it feels like a turd to me now. I bought a DS4 to use with my PC a couple of months ago and the community drivers from scarlet.crush work perfectly fine but I really don't like how the thumbsticks on that thing feel with PC games. It almost feels like there's hardly any range of motion and they're too tight. I did however find the solution of ordering Xbox One replacement thumbsticks from amazon and putting them in the DS4 and that's been a lot better but I'm super excited that these drivers are finally out and I can use the best controller now. Something I thought would have been released when the One was.

@tychoid said:

I use the DS4 on my PC and while in the beginning I ran into a ton of issues, the community drivers have worked perfectly for me since Feb/Mar. I feel like a lot of people prefer the DS4, but there are quite a bit of people who do like the XBO controller.

Yeah, I mean I was just wanting the already existing PC versions to be released digitally (same with Gears of War), but ports of Halo 3 and 4 would be nice to have as well. I found the games disappointing but would play them again on PC with a mouse for sure.

I found the wireless dongle sometimes lost inputs for me, as a player of fighting games that's not something i can live with so i prefer wired.
The main issue i have with the ... Xbone... ONE... XOne... controller, is the bumpers, a game like Dark Souls uses those all the time and they arn't brilliant.

Also i'm assuming they're super expensive, i'm not even going to look.

I can't speak to the DS4 or XONE controllers, but my 360 controllers work perfectly with my Surface 2 Pro. Just plugged in straight out of the box and went. It only comes with 1 usb port (and it's not in the location shown in the picture above—that's not a Surface), but I use a splitter for multiple controllers without any issue.

@cuuniyevo: That's a Surface Pro 3 I think.

Not sure, does the controller come with a micro usb cable or is that something you'd have to buy separately?

I think it was a speed thing. At least that's their claim.

Broke how? Usually when these stop working it is just a cheap fuse inside that has burned out. It is easy to fix if you are at all mechanically minded. You short circuit the fuse. I did that and it has been working fine still a year later. Google it. The procedure is well documented.

Timing for this news couldn't be better. The analog sticks on my old 360 controller are nearly down to the plastic and the triggers getting pretty slack.

I really like the DS4 but MS is first to the table with official driver support for the PC so they get my money.

Or you could spend like $3 on a micro USB cable and just use your wireless controller?

Too little too late. Anyone that's serious about using controllers on PC is already using Dualshock 4 (or even 3) on PC instead of fidgeting with batteries for xbox controllers.

Ah, I looked into it, and you are correct. Strange that they moved the start button and ports on the new version. I thought the layout was fine, apart from the mini displayport being too close to the power.

@trafalgarlaw said:

Anyone that's "serious about using controllers on PC" are probably still using 360 pads, actually. That's what everyone has had for years and while the DS4 is better, I don't know of many people who upgraded to one yet.

This is obviously just a preliminary step that will lead into MS releasing official wireless controllers for PC in the next few months. They just decided to release the official drivers as soon as they were done while they're manufacturing the PC wireless adapter.

@trafalgarlaw: lol just no so wrong i'm afraid most people have just stuck with the 360 pads

Gotta sell those accessories yo.

@cikame& @limecloud: Same here, I've been playing DS1 with the controller for a few hours and sure enough, those bumpers are really weird and hard to press naturally. The way they are pointed outwards seems to require more force to press down or I have to use a different part of my finger. Dammit Microsoft, that's even more of a Dark Souls killer than the old d-pad was. :( (This d-pad seems nice and reliable though, except for the plasticy-feeling and loud clicking...) Hopefully the bumpers are something I'll get used to. :(