Here's What Overwatch's Director Thinks About Mouse-And-Keyboard Controls On Console
"The Overwatch team objects to the use of mouse-and-keyboard on console," Jeff Kaplan says.
Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan has spoken out about mouse-and-keyboard controls on console for the popular shooter.
In a forum post (via Polygon), Kaplan said, "The Overwatch team objects to the use of mouse-and-keyboard on console." He went on to say that Blizzard has reached out to Sony and Microsoft to express its "concern" about this, as well as input conversion devices. Kaplan said Blizzard wants Sony and Microsoft to either prohibit the use of mouse-and-keyboard controls and conversion devices or officially add support for those control setups for everyone. He also called on gamers to share their thoughts with the platform-holders "in a productive and respectful way."
The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One do not officially support mouse-and-keyboard controls, though people have found ways, including converters, to make that setup work. Regarding a full, officially supported mouse-and-keyboard setup for Xbox One, Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently said he hopes this will happen in part to help RTS games grow in prominence on console.
Mouse-and-keyboard is considered a superior control setup for precision aiming, among other things. No game is ever perfectly balanced, but console players using a mouse-and-keyboard setup would surely have an advantage over those using a controller.
Before Overwatch came out last year, Blizzard explained that there is no cross-play between PC and console in part because PC players would have an advantage with mouse-and-keyboard controls.
In other Overwatch news, Blizzard recently announced that the game has crossed 25 million registered users. We may learn more about how the game is performing from a business perspective this week when Activision Blizzard reports earnings on February 9.
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com
Join the conversation