Top 6 MMORPGs With Controller Support On PC

Look, sometimes you just want to either chill on your console or kick back and have a more casual MMORPG play session at your PC without having to be hovering over your keyboard and mouse. Sure, during some sweaty sessions you may want the increased accuracy and clicky nature of your keyboard, but that’s not what we’re talking about today.

Today, we’re looking at the top MMORPGs that have controller support…and it works well. Just because you have it doesn’t mean it’s worth using. We’re also talking about official controller support here so games like Guild Wars 2 (which has a very good unofficial controller support option) won’t make this list. We also won’t list games like Neverwinter which, for some odd reason, have controller support on their console versions, but never added native support for PC.

We’ll also ignore chat functions which are usually always better via a keyboard even if there’s integration with the controller. We’ll be talking strictly about gameplay here.

I’ve also included some great videos from friends below explaining each game’s controller support where available.

Without further ado, here’s some of our favorite MMORPGs that implemented controller support in effective ways. In no particular order:

Final Fantasy XIV

It should come as no surprise that Square Enix’s flagship MMORPG makes this list. Having been originally designed to support cross play between PC and PlayStation3 (back in the day) it basically had to have some type of controller support.

What’s surprising about FFXIV’s support is the nifty way it works. With bloated hotbars, sometimes being limited to the few buttons on a controller can make things challenging to use. Square Enix’s implementation of using shoulder buttons to swap between certain hotbars laid out visually like your controller may look a bit daunting at first, but once you get into the groove, you’ll be firing all of your abilities via muscle memory and not visual confirmation.

The Elder Scrolls Online

Here we have another MMORPG that has a console version and so it just makes sense that the PC version includes controller support. I love running dungeons and playing with a controller. With a ton of robust options for binding and a limited hotbar anyway, controllers work really well when you’re out and about or just having a casual session with some friends.

It would be remiss of me not to mention one drawback though. When playing on PC, most of your add-on functionality will still require you to tap that mouse or keyboard every once in a while as they aren’t controller enabled in most cases. Given the size of the game’s menu, it can be a little weird to move about there with a controller, too.

Albion Online

Next up is a game that has controller support (and a mobile version now) that’s kind of “hit and miss”. You can tell that the team worked hard thinking through how the controller should work and it’s great for casual sessions, but it does break down a little if you are going to head into PvP.

The way controller support works in the menus is kind of neat and if you’re running around doing gathering or casual activities you’ll love it. Maybe just keep the keyboard handy for certain activities.

World of Warcraft

WoW was VERY late to the controller support party and adding it just a few years ago really fueled speculation that the MMORPG was considering a jump to consoles. While the support is mapped similar to the way FFXIV does things, with combinations of shoulder buttons and face buttons triggering different abilities, the UI doesn’t really change by default much so things can look a little cluttered when your hot bar icons now also include button combinations on them.

The auto targeting is actually pretty good. Face a target and you’re targeting them, but it can certainly get a bit hectic with groups of mobs or in PvP with a bunch of targets all grouped up in front of you.

Black Desert Online

Here’s one where I don’t have to point out that PvP players would still want a keyboard and mouse. Black Desert Online’s controller support may be one of my favorite implementations in MMORPGs. I’ve even seen competitive PvP players play on controller as the game’s controller is really well acclimated to the style of combat used in BDO. I will note that some of the more difficult classes may have challenges in PvP but, on the whole, BDO is really well done…except for navigating the UI/menus. That’s still kind of clunky at best.

Most Shooter MMOs That Also Have a Console Version

Look, I could have listed each of these games by themselves and made this a top 10, but they all kind of fall into the same bucket. Any MMO/MMORPG shooter game that has a console version usually includes great controller support, but you’re obviously giving up a bit on the accuracy front. Games like Destiny 2, The Division 2, Overwatch 2, Warframe, and The First Descendant fit the bill here, but there’s hundreds of other examples.

Is there an MMO you play on your PC using a controller, official or not? What’s your favorite and why? Let us know who should be included when this list is given its next update!