Mouse and keyboard consoles are imbalancing Overwatch

Mouse and keyboard consoles are imbalancing Overwatch

The age-old question of whether a console gamer could beat a PC gamer is one that was really answered a long time ago. There's a reason that we don't see cross-platform play between PC and consoles shooter titles very often: because the mouse and keyboard are a far superior input method.

That's ok, because more often than not there isn't that direct competition, but there are those who force the issue by taking their mouse and keyboard onto their console and it's leading to some problems with balance in Overwatch.

So much so in fact, that the game's director has made a public statement asking Microsoft and Sony to ban the practice on their consoles.

"We have lobbied and will continue to lobby for first-party console manufacturers to either disallow mouse and keyboard and input conversion devices or openly and easily support mouse and keyboard for all players," he said on the Battle.net forums.

He even encouraged players themselves to aid in the lobbying effort

"I encourage you to reach out to the hardware manufacturers and express your concerns (but please do so in a productive and respectful way)."

This may be the only way to encourage Microsoft and Sony to do such a thing, but it still seems unlikely. With Microsoft looking to build more games which are playable on PC and console, it likely wants better keyboard and mouse implementation, not worse. Sony too supports the function in certain parts of its system - it also has a history of receiving nasty legal action when it removes features.

As much as it might be a pain that some people use these input methods on a console though, perhaps it's simply the case that if you want to play at a higher-level, you should be playing on a PC where the best players can all use the same input method.

Image source: rasetunion/Reddit