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 User-Mode Driver Framework (UMDF).

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 Application</b><br/><span style='white-space:nowrap;color:inherit;font-size:small'>Running as Local Administrator or SYSTEM in your session of choice</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/>Shared Memory<br/><span style='white-space:nowrap;color:inherit'>(UMDF + xinputhid Filter Driver)</span>"]
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 libraryHRESULTDuoController_Initialize();
// Create a virtual controllerHRESULTDuoController_CreateController(
DUO_CONTROLLER_TYPEcontrollerType, // Xbox, DualShock4, DualSense, or DualSenseEdgeDuoController_VibrationReportCallback_tvibrationCallback,
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_DUALSENSEHRESULTDuoController_SendReport(
void*controller,
void*inputReport
);
// Remove a virtual controllerHRESULTDuoController_RemoveController(void*controller);
// Uninitialize the libraryHRESULTDuoController_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