World of Warcraft to add official controller support for accessibility

Blizzard’s latest World of Warcraft: Shadowlands expansion for their never-unpopular MMO will see the introduction of controller support including native Xbox Adaptive Controller functionality.

Twitter user Martin Benjamins, aka Marlamin, datamined the new update and uncovered hints towards the introduction of gamepad support. The datamined code includes references to a host of gamepad bindings, including PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Pro, and PlayStation 5.

Strings found by @bloerwald:

WTFhttps://t.co/SqClitJ6IU
PlayStation 4
PlayStation 4 Pro
PlayStation 5

Take with a grain of salt, this does not show usage. Could be part of a https://t.co/01M2rAuxqt SDK import or something but the DefaultGamePadBindings file makes me go ?

— Martin (@Marlamin) April 8, 2020

[shunno-quote align=”left”]For more details on the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller, click here[/shunno-quote]

Community manager for World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, Randy ‘Kaivax’ Jordan, has since confirmed that Blizzard is looking to add controller support to the iconic MMO. While the nature of gamepad control bindings were not touched on, it was explained that the controller support will be introduced for accessibility reasons.

“For a long time, we’ve seen a small number of players turn to third party add-ons, such as Console Port, in order to work through certain accessibility issues,” Jordan said

“We always want to make WoW more widely accessible, if possible, so in Shadowlands, we’re attempting to add some support for keybinds, camera, and turning a character on controllers such as the Xbox Adaptive Controller.”

Microsoft’s Xbox Adaptive Controller is a device designed for gamers that require additional aid to make gaming either more comfortable or doable. The controller has been used on platforms such as the Nintendo Switch to play games such as Animal Crossing.