Xbox One controller will eventually be PC compatible

The Xbox One's controller will eventually be compatible with Windows PCs, and Microsoft is hoping to add that functionality by 2014, a Microsoft spokesperson told VentureBeat.

Xbox One's controller features 40 design changes from the Xbox 360 iteration. It will also include several aspects that make it "optimized" for PC, the spokesperson said.

"New wireless protocol, combined with the ability to work in ‘wired' mode, and the addition of features like Impulse triggers, means that new software has to be written and optimized for the PC," a Microsoft spokesperson told VentureBeat. "There is also some work that we need to do to make sure that existing PC games that support the Xbox 360 controller will work with the Xbox One controller."

Earlier today, Xbox chief product officer Marc Whitten said the Xbox One will not support cross-platform voice chat with the Xbox 360, and that the system will still function if the Kinect isn't plugged in.