Xbox One Mouse And Keyboard Support Lands For Xbox Insiders

Last month we talked about mouse and keyboard support coming to the Xbox One. Microsoft made its intentions very clear when it announced that support for the mouse and keyboard would be implemented at the hardware level, but game developers could choose whether to add support in each game. Almost exactly a month later, Xbox Insiders in the Beta Ring can try out the controls.

The caveat about mouse and keyboard support is that it has limited capability at this point; only Warframe offers support at this time. Microsoft is a bit confusing in its announcement stating that it has "enabled mouse support in the build" and then asking Beta Ring members to, "Please check out the Quest in the Xbox Insider Hub to experience mouse and keyboard support in Warframe." Those conflicting sentences leave it unclear if Warframe has only mouse support or mouse and keyboard support; it would make little sense to enable mouse support only in Warframe as you would also need the keyboard to take advantage of the PC-style input method. The assumption is that both the mouse and keyboard are supported.

The new control method comes via Xbox One Preview Beta build 1811 (181024-0145), however, other features are included in that beta release. Additional changes include kids being asked to add a parent to set up an account only if needed for local privacy regulations. That means kids in the U.S. won’t have to add a parent and joint Microsoft Family at setup. Kids in countries subject to privacy regulations will still need to add a parent.

Search enhancements are rolled into the beta update with the search function available across the console and returning responses from the Xbox Assistant application for help, support, and troubleshooting; this feature has a Quest in the Xbox Insider Hub. The beta update also brings with it fixes for issues with clubs, notifications, and system settings.