X11 has multi pointer but I have no idea how usable it is https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Multi-pointer_X

Is it possible for a game to read two mice separately? Sure. It's not common, but it's possible.

The game "Lemmings" was ported everywhere in the early 1990s, but the original Amiga version supported two mice at the same time (two mice, two players, two cursors).

That's a rare example of a game that designed in some support for two mice, and that support was specific to one platform.

Like, digital dual wielding?

Kinda how you use the touchpads to type on the steamdeck?

I've been dreaming of that at least since we had the Wii with its multiple cursors. But not even touch inputs are separate from mouse input. Not sure if multitouch is even available beyond some gestures. Maybe in some special applications.

I read a comment in a KDE thread recently that said Gnome has this.

"Two pointers" makes a lot of sense if you actually have the ability to pay attention to two things simultaneously. Most froods are not hoopy enough for this.

I knew a guy that would use a mouse and joystick with all sorts of fun keybindings in WoW. This was back in the BC days when Palidin face roll build was popular, (I don't know what the game is like now).

Do you think we could ever have that future?

That's interesting, but personally, I don't see a lot of point. I'm totally willing to learn about other people's workflows and use cases though. I just have a hard time envisioning a need for two pointers at once other than edge cases like resizing lots of windows or something. Maybe 3d modeling, for better moving/rotating control?

In most cases, it seems like the way to get more efficient is to stop using the mouse and fire up a terminal. If you just want more buttons on your mouse so you can have a full keyboard, maybe try the Azeron Cyro? I haven't used it personally, though I do use their Cyborg for games.