GDC 2025: GameInput PC Expands to Meet Your Needs

We have been listening to developer feedback on our GameInput PC release, and we are happy to announce a new version (v1.0) with myriad improvements that make it easier to support the breadth of devices that exist in the Windows ecosystem today.

Some of the key areas that we have invested for this release include:

• Rearchitected PC Platform: A new versioning scheme paves the way for new device features and API improvements, while delivery via NuGet allows adoption to all apps within the Windows ecosystem across storefronts.
• Support for a variety of HID gamepads: We have added support for hundreds of HID devices via a registry key mapping extension.
• Mouse improvements: Trackpad and absolute mouse reading support has been added.
• Remote session support: The API now works outside of the local session, expanding support into more streaming scenarios.

Rearchitected Platform

The new version of the API has been re-architected and re-organized to better fit the needs of the evolving PC space. The device information structure has been expanded to provide valuable pieces of information required to inter-operate with other common Windows APIs, including providing a direct device path. We further added support for reading callbacks to better align to a diverse set of input stacks. Over time, new API revisions will keep providing support for new devices, device types and features.

Further, the new redistributable installer, detached from the GDK and Windows Update, provides a reliable mechanism for titles to get platform updates for the API that provides forward-compatibility with new features, bug fixes and other improvements!

Support for a variety of HID gamepads

GameInput interprets HID devices as one of its supported devices classes (Gamepad, Racing Wheel, Flight Stick, Arcade Stick and Navigation Controller) based on a set of registry keys providing a mapping between the HID report and the named buttons. As a part of this release, we have expanded the list so that your gamepad games work with hundreds of new devices.

New mappings will be added with new GameInput releases over time, and we are excited to share more details about our plans for extensible support in later releases.

Mouse Improvements

We have heard your feedback! GameInput now supports trackpad devices, ever so present in the PC ecosystem. It also further adds support for absolute readings, no longer requiring you to rely on other Windows APIs for your mouse needs.

Remote Session Support

Due to its previous design, the GameInput API was not capable of running on non-local Windows sessions. This was a blocker for some streaming and remote scenarios. The new version of the API is now able to work in remote session scenarios as well.

Available today via NuGet

If you are wondering how you can get started with this new GameInput release, it is now available via our NuGet site: https://www.nuget.org/packages/Microsoft.GameInput. You can learn more about the API at https://aka.ms/gameinput.

We are excited to keep bringing new updates to you and are interested in hearing your feedback! Please let us know of any bug reports and feature requests via the NuGet “Contact Owners” feature.