I found this Q&A with Thomas from Fanatec about XBOX ONE wheel compatibility.
Xbox One Compatibility FAQ and Poll
We are continuously getting a lot of questions but also complaints
from our customers about the COMPATIBILITY of Xbox 360 wheels to Xbox
One so we decided to make a FAQ and poll about it.
Did Microsoft allow steering wheels (or other input devices) of the first generation Xbox to be compatible to the Xbox 360?
No
Was there a legal and official way to make Xbox (first generation) wheels fully compatible to Xbox 360?
No
Will it be technically possible to make an adapter to use Xbox 360 peripherals (like steering wheels) on the Xbox One?
Probably yes but the effort and complication would be significant. The new
console uses a completely different force feedback communication
protocol, wireless transmission protocol and a different security chip.
The security chip needs to be purchased by the 3rd party manufacturer
from Microsoft and it makes sure that only official licensed products
can be connected to the console. Only if you get the official approval
from Microsoft you will be able to purchase such a security chip for
Xbox One. Besides that, given the high development costs and limited
market it would not be possible to offer it at a cheap price.
Does Microsoft allow the use of Xbox 360 devices to be used on Xbox One?
So far no and there is no indication that this will change. This means it
is impossible to make such an adapter. This is the case for any company
and not just us. There are other expensive peripherals like music
instruments for Xbox 360 which also cannot be used anymore.
Did Fanatec plan to make such an adapter or do you rather prefer to sell new wheels?
Of course we would have rather made a simple adapter or even just a
firmware update and continue to sell the wheels we have. Instead we now
have to develop something completely new. As other companies were
faster, the chance of losing customers is very high. This is not in our
interest at all!
Can you make such an adapter without the confirmation of Microsoft and sell it directly or indirectly to your customers?
Making a device which cracks the security chip of Microsoft is clearly not
legal and we would immediately destroy the good relationship with
Microsoft. Furthermore we would be sued if we would attempt to sell or
even just support the development of such a device.
If Microsoft would allow such an adapter then the whole security chip system would not make
any sense anymore as it would suddenly be an open system and you can
connect anything to the console.
This system actually has positive effects for the consumer as well as it makes sure that all connected
peripherals are tested and work with all games. This is not the case on
other consoles.
Since when do you know that such an adapter is not possible?
Microsoft never confirmed that such an adapter is possible or not and we were
waiting up to now. But given the technical complexity and also the
philosophy of Microsoft, we do not expect any more that such an adapter
will ever come to the market.
Are you working on a new Xbox One wheel
and when will it be released?
We do work on a next generation wheel and the Xbox One is a key market for us. But at that point we cannot reveal
any further information or give a timeline. If there is any announcement it will be made here on the blog.
Why did you not release an Xbox One
wheel at launch?
We would have loved to do so but the 3rd party peripheral department of Microsoft which authorizes all Xbox peripherals
has limited capacity. Therefore other companies which make much bigger
business with Microsoft than us got this wheel business first. Our
relationship is very good with them but we have to respect that bigger
customers get better service. That is a standard business practice and
there is not much we can do about it.
The only one who can change that
is the Xbox One customer with its’ buying behavior because Microsoft
likes whatever the Xbox user likes and buys.
Seems like M$ is creating a lot of issues for wheel manufacturers. Especially for smaller factories like Fanatec.
