When it comes to playing games on a Playstation 5, you already have an excellent controller, the Dualsense, it brings many innovations to the table like haptic feedback and responsive triggers. You can even use your old Dualshock 4 on this new console (somewhat).
As far as gamepads are concerned, it is hard to think of a better alternative. However, as we explained before, controllers like the Dualsense do have some disadvantages over a mouse and keyboard, especially when it comes to FPS, MMOs, and MOBAS.
Or maybe, you want the mouse and keyboard to browse the web and native apps of your Playstation. Since gamepads rely on a pop-up menu where you have to select each letter, they can be clunky and inconvenient when it comes to typing.
So, are you forced to use a controller? or...
Is your Playstation 5 compatible with a mouse and a keyboard?
Yes, the Playstation 5 is compatible with most mouse and keyboards out there. You don´t need a third-party device or anything of the sort to connect them to your PS5. Sony has for a long time allowed both types of devices to work with their consoles, and this generation is no exception.
So long as your mouse and or keyboard don´t need a special driver to work on your PC, it should be easy to connect them to your Playstation.
How do you connect a mouse and keyboard to your Playstation 5?
For a wired mouse or a wired keyboard, all you need to do is plug it in via the USB port. You do the same thing with the wireless mice and keyboards. Plug their dongle into your ps5, and it should automatically detect the new devices.
If your mouse and/or keyboard use Bluetooth to connect, turn them on, go to Settings>Devices>Bluetooth Devices, and then select your device to pair it with your Playstation.
It doesn´t matter how you connect your mouse and keyboard, once paired with your ps5, you can head to the Settings, enter the Devices menu and make all the adjustments you want.
What PS5 games are compatible with a mouse and keyboard?
So, you have successfully connected a mouse and/or a keyboard to your Playstation 5. You enter the Devices menu and see that it has been paired with your console. The problem comes when you start your game, it doesn´t matter how much you move the mouse or what letters you type; your new controllers aren´t doing anything. The game is not responding.
Why does this happen? Because while the Playstation 5 is compatible with both a mouse and a keyboard, not all of its games are. In fact, most aren´t. Mouse and keyboard compatibility have to be specifically programmed in by the developers.
So, which games do let you use a mouse and keyboard? Titles that are either cross-platform (that is, they are also on PC) or from one of the genres that benefit the most from having a mouse and keyboard, namely, FPS, MOBAs, and MMOs.
This is why you can play Call of Duty with a mouse, but not Spiderman, for example. Planet Coaster is another example; the park management game would be a bit tedious to play with the control sticks, but it gives the alternative that you can plug in a mouse and play like if you were on PC.
A not-at-all exhaustive list of games that have mouse and/or keyboard support for the Playstation 5 would be:
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty: Warzone
DayZ
DC Universe Online
Elder Scrolls Online
Final Fantasy XIV
Fortnite
Neverwinter
Overwatch
Paragon
Planet Coaster
They Are Billions
War Thunder
Warframe
(Do note that in some games you can only use the keyboard and not the mouse)
As you can see, there aren´t that many titles that use the mouse and keyboard combo (yet). Alternative control schemes rarely gain swell in the community. For example, this is why there are very few games that use gyro controls on the ps4.
If you are curious about a game not on the list, you can check if the game you want to play has mouse and keyboard support on its website. Another alternative is to type the name of the game in google and see if it has support.
Keep in mind that some developers opt to not include mouse and keyboard support deliberately, as it would mess the balance of the game. Some titles that you would think are compatible, like Rainbow Six Siege or The Division 2, aren´t for this reason.
Normally this is the part of the article where we would recommend a special adapter to be able to play with a mouse a keyboard on unsupported games. However, we can´t do so because I haven´t found a reliable alternative that works on the PS5.
All the adapters we found seemed finicky, and some were outright scams, so as of yet there isn´t a good way to play these games. Not to mention that lot of people and even developers would consider using a mouse on a gamepad only game to be cheating, and it could get you banned.
Still, if you are interested, there is this adapter that works for the ps4, but not the ps5.
If you want to take a look at all the other accessories available for the Playstation 5, check out our page here and see if there´s anything you´d like!