Microsoft Says Goodbye To Kinect And Stops Manufacturing It

Microsoft’s Kinect sensor has been the subject of many discussions between gaming enthusiasts as well as tech consumers, which all had something to say about this interesting and at its time, innovate device for the Xbox console.

Many years have passed since it was first introduced in 2010, though, and now Microsoft is officially calling it quits by ending Kinect production.

Kinect’s story through the years

Back when it was first introduced, the Kinect was offered as an accessory for the Xbox 360 console. Unlike other accessories, however, this one had a lot of depth to it and was backed by a lengthy and impressive marketing campaign.

Microsoft really wanted its customers to try out this new, innovative tech. Many exciting new features were promised, and many new things were going to come out to support Kinect. Over the years, some of those promises held true while others never materialized.

The Kinect was eventually offered in a 2.0 form when the Xbox One console was released as Microsoft tried to prolong the gadget’s lifespan. During its time, the Kinect managed to break records and become one of the fastest selling gadgets in history.

That’s quite an achievement and to this day, Microsoft can be happy about the 35 million units it managed to sell.

The downfall of the Kinect

While it was a cool thing to have at first, the importance of the Kinect sensor slowly started to fade. Eventually, with the release of the Xbox One, Kinect 2.0 was no longer relevant to what gaming was evolving into.

Microsoft’s fatal mistake, however, came by bundling the sensor with the Xbox One at launch. This meant that users were going to get the Kinect 2.0 sensor when they bought the console, but it also meant that the price was going up for the Xbox One.

This did not bode well with fans, and their backlash made Microsoft rethink their strategy and unbundle the Kinect.

Kinect was pushed to the side and today was finally terminated. With that being said, the technology behind the Kinect service is still in play and there are multiple other Microsoft services that use that technology to date.

Continued support for existing users

While it won’t be possible to buy the Kinect sensor anymore, Microsoft will continue to offer support for the Kinect for the users that have bought it already which is a reassuring factor.

As far as its game library, users will have to make do with the games that have already come out.

Even if Microsoft would have continued supporting Kinect, it’s doubtful that developers would invest in the technology given today’s market.

Kinect’s story through the years#

Kinect’s story through the years