World of Warcraft could be getting official controller support

(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)

A new build has arrived for the Dragonflight beta and it seems that World of Warcraft may get official controller support in the new expansion. Both Xbox and PlayStation controller assets which are "tied to controller bindings" have been datamined in the latest build, according to Icy Veins.

This news certainly adds weight to any speculation that WoW might show up on Xbox after the Microsoft acquisition, assuming it goes ahead of course. Equally though, it may just be part of the push towards better accessibility options for the nearly 18-year-old MMO—something that many of the UI updates in Dragonflight appear to be focusing on.

An "action combat" option was previously added to the Dragonflight beta. If enabled, this means you won't need to tab between enemies to target them—instead, you will automatically lock on to the closest enemy in the direction your character is facing. You can also assign an Interact key in the beta, which again would make using a controller much easier.

While it is possible to use a controller via an in-game console command in Shadowlands, it's not at all intuitive and pretty fiddly to set up. So if Blizzard is pushing toward more user-friendly controller support that can only be a good thing, regardless of what happens with Microsoft.

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Sarah started as a freelance writer in 2018, writing for PCGamesN, TechRadar, GamingBible, Red Bull Gaming and more. In 2021, she was offered a full-time position on the PC Gamer team where she takes every possible opportunity to talk about World of Warcraft and Elden Ring. When not writing guides, most of her spare time is spent in Azeroth—though she's quite partial to JRPGs too. One of her fondest hopes is to one day play through the ending of Final Fantasy X without breaking down into a sobbing heap. She probably has more wolves in Valheim than you.