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Overview

DuoController is a driver for Windows that emulates Xbox Elite, DualShock 4, DualSense and DualSense Edge controllers.

It is a spiritual successor to ViGEmBus, the now-abandoned KMDF-based kernel driver, reimagined using Microsoft's Xbox GIP Synthetic and User-Mode Driver Framework (UMDF) APIs.

Why Userspace?

Microsoft is actively steering the Windows driver ecosystem away from kernel-mode and toward user-mode drivers.

The reasoning is clear:

Concern Kernel Driver (KMDF) User Driver (UMDF)
System Stability A crash takes down the entire OS A crash takes down only the driver process
Attestation Signing Required (EV certificate, expensive) Not required
Development Complexity High - kernel debugging, WinDbg, VM setup Low - standard user-mode tooling
Security Surface Ring 0 - full system access Ring 3 - sandboxed, limited privileges
Distribution Signing portal, HLK testing Standard DLL deployment

The Signing Problem

Kernel drivers on modern Windows must be submitted to the Windows Hardware Dev Center, pass through attestation signing, and have to be pre-signed by an Extended Validation (EV) code signing certificate.

This process costs hundreds of dollars, requires a registered legal entity that fulfills Microsoft's requirements, and takes weeks of turnaround.

UMDF drivers require no such signing.

A standard code signing certificate (or even self-signing for development or small-scale publishing) is sufficient.

This makes DuoController dramatically more accessible to:

  • Independent developers
  • Small teams

Features

  • Full DualShock 4, DualSense & DualSense Edge Controller Emulation
  • Full Xbox Elite Controller Emulation
  • Session Isolation - Isolates gamepads to the current session ID for multi-session and RDP environments
  • Minimal Footprint - A single DLL/INF pair, no kernel components

Architecture

flowchart TB
    App["<b>Your Service</b><br/><span style='white-space:nowrap;color:inherit;font-size:small'>Running as SYSTEM</span><br/><br/>DuoController_Initialize()<br/><span style='white-space:nowrap;color:inherit'>DuoController_CreateController(Xbox|DualShock4|DualSense|DualSenseEdge)</span><br/>DuoController_SendReport()<br/>DuoController_RemoveController()<br/>DuoController_Uninitialize()"]
    Xbox["<b>Xbox Path</b><br/><br/>xboxgipsynthetic.dll<br/>(System API)"]
    DS4["<b>DualShock 4 Path</b><br/><br/>Shared Memory<br/>(UMDF Driver)"]
    DS["<b>DualSense / Edge Path</b><br/><br/>Shared Memory<br/>(UMDF Driver)"]
    Input["<b>Windows Game Input API</b><br/><span style='white-space:nowrap;color:inherit'>(GameInput / XInput / DirectInput / RawInput)</span>"]

    App --> Xbox
    App --> DS4
    App --> DS
    Xbox --> Input
    DS4 --> Input
    DS --> Input

    style App fill:#1a1a2e,stroke:#e94560,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style Xbox fill:#16213e,stroke:#0f3460,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style DS4 fill:#16213e,stroke:#0f3460,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style DS fill:#16213e,stroke:#0f3460,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style Input fill:#1a1a2e,stroke:#e94560,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
Loading

API

// Initialize the library
HRESULT DuoController_Initialize();

// Create a virtual controller
HRESULT DuoController_CreateController(
    DUO_CONTROLLER_TYPE controllerType, // Xbox, DualShock4, DualSense, or DualSenseEdge
    DuoController_VibrationReportCallback_t vibrationCallback,
    void* vibrationCallbackContext,
    void** controller
);

// Send an input report:
// Xbox       -> DUO_CONTROLLER_INPUT_REPORT_XBOX
// DualShock4 -> DUO_CONTROLLER_INPUT_REPORT_DS4
// DualSense  -> DUO_CONTROLLER_INPUT_REPORT_DUALSENSE
// Edge       -> DUO_CONTROLLER_INPUT_REPORT_DUALSENSE
HRESULT DuoController_SendReport(
    void* controller,
    void* inputReport
);

// Remove a virtual controller
HRESULT DuoController_RemoveController(void* controller);

// Uninitialize the library
HRESULT DuoController_Uninitialize();

Getting Started

Prerequisites

  • Windows 10 or later (x64)
  • Visual Studio 2026
  • Windows Driver Kit (WDK, Nu-Get preferred)

Build

# Open DuoController.sln in Visual Studio and build for Release x64

Projects

Project Description
DuoController The UMDF driver DLL and library — implements the HID minidriver, shared memory server, and the client API
DuoControllerSample A minimal C sample showing library usage for Xbox, DualSense Edge, DualSense, and DualShock 4 controller types

License

Apache 2.0 © 2026 Black-Seraph