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Apple adding support for PS4, Xbox One controllers to iOS, TVOS and MacOS

Apple is ramping up its gaming chops by announcing support for two of the most popular gaming controllers ahead of the fall launch of Apple Arcade.

Ty Pendlebury Editor
Ty Pendlebury is a journalism graduate of RMIT Melbourne, and has worked at CNET since 2006. He lives in New York City where he writes about streaming and home audio.
Expertise Ty has worked for radio, print, and online publications, and has been writing about home entertainment since 2004. He majored in Cinema Studies when studying at RMIT. He is an avid record collector and streaming music enthusiast. Credentials
  • Ty was nominated for Best New Journalist at the Australian IT Journalism awards, but he has only ever won one thing. As a youth, he was awarded a free session for the photography studio at a local supermarket.
Ty Pendlebury
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Xbox One controllers will be supported by Apple TV.

James Martin/CNET

Apple announced that the  Apple TV will soon be compatible with Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 controllers, with support also coming to iOS 13 and MacOS Catalina as well.

"We're extending support to the two best and most popular game controllers available -- the Xbox One S , and the PlayStation 4," Apple CEO Tim Cook said at WWDC 2019.

WWDC 2019: A quick visual recap of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote

See all photos

Apple launched its Arcade gaming subscription service at an event in March that rounds up exclusive games for the Apple TV, MacOS and iOS

"Apple Arcade is also going to look amazing on the Apple TV 4K this fall," Cook said. Key games on the service include The Enchanted World, Where Cards Fall and Shinsekai: Into the Depths.

Apple has yet to announce if all of the controllers' features -- such as rumble or headphone out -- will be supported.

Watch this: Apple announces multiuser and controller support for Apple TV

Read more: Apple TV gets multi-user feature on TV and Apple Music apps

The event comes as software and services are taking on even greater importance for Apple. The company still sells millions of iPhones every quarter, but sales aren't soaring like they used to. People are holding onto their devices for longer, or use competing devices, which makes it important to give them services that get them paying monthly. Apple has made augmented reality, mobile payments, streaming music and other areas into key focuses over the past couple of years.

This is a developing story. Follow our WWDC liveblog, and see all of today's Apple news.

CNET's Shara Tibken and Eli Blumenthal contributed to this story.