01 Fanatec Ecosystem Compatibility v2

  Our ecosystem enables compatibility regardless of whether you’re playing on your Windows PC, Xbox or PlayStation. Our products do not work on Macs. Fanatec’s product segments are made up of the following major categories:  

• Steering Wheel
• Wheel Base
• Pedals
• Cockpits / Mounts / Table Clamps
• Shifters

  You can combine different steering wheels with different wheel bases, and to add pedalsand other accessories, like a shifter or a handbrake. 
  This ecosystem also allows you to combine products from Fanatec’s product lines, whichvary in price and performance. The product lines include the CSL, the ClubSport and thePodium series with different gaming platforms.

  By the way, CSL stands for ClubSport Light – and as we all know, light isgood. You can identify the product line by the first part of theproduct name (VISUAL), as well as by the tag on the productphoto on our website.  
Each product line has its their own sets of product segments.

Our CSL series, for example, has wheel bases, steering wheels and pedals. The ClubSport line has the same, plus shifters and handbrakes, as well as mountingequipment. The Podium series, our highest-end line, has the same, but does not yet have its own line of pedals.  

The cool thing about Fanatec products is that you can mix many of these items to createyour own unique racing set – for example, you could use a Podium wheel base with ClubSport pedals or shifters. Depending on the system or systems you want to play on, you can select the compatibleproducts you need. As you learned earlier, you can use our hardware on Windows PC, PlayStation and Xbox. Be aware, though, regarding compatibility, not everycombination works. You have to combine products that will work together with your console, which isn’t always possible depending on the hardware combination you select. Sounds complicated? Not really.
Icons in our shop show you which platform a product is compatible with.

Let’s start with PC compatibility. All products currently available for sale work on Windows PC in virtually every combination. The PC icon is always found at the top of the product page. All products are compatible with each other when used on PC. This is why CSL pedals can becombined with a Podium wheel base, for example. This makes upgrading easy! You have to pay closer attention to compatibility icons if you plan to play on an Xbox or PlayStation.These consoles require license chips in order to work.

For PlayStation, the Sony license chip is found in the wheel base. 

For Xbox, the Microsoft license chip is found in the steering wheel. This set of three icons is typically found on a product page. A product will never have both the PS icon AND the Xbox icon – at least one of those icons must include the word “READY”in it. The icons shown here tell us the product is compatible with PC and PlayStation. Do you remember where the PlayStation license can be found?- Pedals?- Wheel base?- Steering wheel? That’s right – it was easy: the wheel base! If the wheel base you selected does not have PS license, it won’t be in any other Fanatec hardware, which means you won’t be able to use that wheel base with a PlayStation. That’s right: Just because the Sony license is always located in the wheel base, doesn’t mean all wheel bases have a Sony license.
Now you understand the PC icon and the PS icon.

But what’s this “Xbox Ready” all about, you ask? Slow down, slow down, we’ll get to that soon. Let’s first have a look at a product with an Xbox icon. For a product that’s ready to use on Xbox, you might find this set of icons at the top of the page.What does this mean? Right – this steering wheel is compatible with Xbox. And if you were paying attention, you know the reasonwhy it’s compatible: the wheel has the Microsoft license chip you need for Xbox. Of course you can’t just buy a wheel and plug it into your console and start racing. You always need to combine it with a wheel base – the life force of sim racing. Here’s where it gets interesting. Let’s take a closer look at a sample bundle: the CSL ElitePorsche Bundle. The icons shown here tell us a couple of things right away:
This set works on Windows PC and PlayStation without requiring additional hardware.But what’s the deal with the “Xbox Ready” icon? It means if you buy a product that has the Xbox license and use it with this wheel base, youcan play on PC, PlayStation AND Xbox! (PS + Xbox licenses = Use everywhere!)

This flexibilityrepresents the core of the Fanatec ecosystem – it’s unique to the sim racing world! So: which product would you have to buy in order to make this happen? That’s right : a steering wheel with an Xbox icon. Not Xbox ready – it has to read “Xbox” alone. Now you may ask why we don’t just offer sets that already come with all the licence chips included in a pre-set combination? A legitimate question, with a legitimate answer. Licenses for gaming platforms are expensive, and these costs are passed on to the customer. Many users are loyal to one platform, like PlayStation. It would be unfair to charge them for alicense they would possibly never need. But giving our customers the option to make their own choices is what the ecosystem is allabout. It gives fans of our brand the ultimate flexibility to not only create unique product combinations, but also to play practically all racing games, even those released exclusivelyfor one platform, for example. So let’s look at our product page and find a steering wheel you can combine with the CSL Elite Porsche 918 RSR Bundle. Geez, did I have to pick a bundle with such a long name? Maybe you are interested in Formula sports. The ClubSport Steering Wheel Formula V2 might be a nice complement to your racing set. Looking at the icons on the product page, you can see the prerequisites for use on all platforms are given: PC, Xbox and PS Ready icons. This particular wheel is also part of a bundle, as shown on the upper right, meaning you can buy it together with a wheel base and pedals at a reduced price, if you like. The bottom line is, if customers want to have compatibility on all platforms, the combinationis key. Icons shown in the…BASE: CSL Elite Porsche 918 RSR Bundle for PlayStation WHEEL: ClubSport Steering Wheel Formula V2. The combined licenses of these products complete the platform compatibility puzzle!