Microsoft has confirmed why I had a really hard time finding a working link for its Kinect Adapter while working on a freelance piece before the holidays. It’s stopped making the Kinect Adapter and, by extension, killed off the accessory for good.
Microsoft representatives confirmed Kinect Adapters are no longer in production to Polygon earlier today. It’s a death blow for the Kinect, which was already in pretty weak form. You needed a Kinect Adapter to use the sensor on Xbox One S. I should know, I purchased one at full price just to keep navigating OneGuide with my voice and changing channels on my television without picking up a remote.
“After careful consideration, we decided to stop manufacturing the Xbox Kinect Adapter to focus attention on launching new, higher fan-requested gaming accessories across Xbox One and Windows 10,” Microsoft told the outlet. Hopefully, we’ll find out what this new accessory is this year.
If there’s any good news in this, it’s that Microsoft was nice enough to ease users into the transition. It’s not produced or published an exclusive Xbox games with Kinect for years. The company took away hand gestures for navigating Xbox One a few years after launch. Since moving Xbox apps to the Windows Store, Kinect voice commands are no longer a requirement, so most apps have dropped those. Also, the latest Xbox One software updates have made voice commands work about as well as a modern JVC stereo head unit in a 57 Chevy.
I’m still using my Kinect and the Xbox One to watch television, stream music, game and enjoy entertainment apps, but the dream is now formally dead. Without a second adapter, I can’t use the Kinect when I buy an Xbox One X for my office later this year. Also pictured in the picture of my Xbox One from launch above? Snap, another feature that’s now dead.
