Why is it so difficult to make your current Xbox 360 wheels compatible to the new console?
Several people have raised their concerns and we understand your disappointment but we also hope you see that there is nothing Fanatec could have done to make your wheels compatible to the new console. Technically it is probably possible to make an adapter but any device connecting to the Xbox 360 or Xbox One (incl. this adapter) needs to have a security chip module which can only be purchased from MS. So without the permission of MS we could only "crack" the security chip and this is not only illegal but would certainly ruin our relationship to MS and other platform owners.
And we were not able to "warn" anybody about this as up to this moment it is still possible that MS changes its mind like they did on other specs of the XB1 as well. It still can happen but we want to be fair and tell you that it is not likely to happen.
We never claimed that the wheels were compatible to Xbox one and please remember that all peripherals of the first Xbox did not work on Xbox 360 either.
But even if we were able to make such an adapter, the development costs would be significant as the XB1 uses a different force feedback protocol and in our wheels the Xbox protocols and PC protocols are separated and use different communication (wireless vs. USB). Given the limited market for such a device, such an adapter would be quite expensive.
Microsoft has good reasons to skip the backwards compatibility as this allowed to implement a completely new and more powerful communication protocol. Of course they are happy to sell new controllers to you and earn money on licenses but keep in mind that a console is about plug and play. MS is very strong to provide a clear standard for controllers and make sure that all controllers work with all games of a certain genre. On other consoles it can happen that your brand new and official controller works only with one game because the communication protocols are not clearly defined from the beginning.
The only thing we can offer is to develop a wheel where you can at least use your peripherals so you don’t have to buy a complete new setup. And when this wheel is ready, we will make an attractive upgrade offer for all existing customers for sure.
This was a pretty long post with a lot of inside information but I hope you can understand the situation a bit better now.
I really appreciate your support and patience.
Best regards
Thomas
