Microsoft Discontinues Xbox One Kinect Adapter

By Edward Leano, Christian Post Contributor Thursday, January 04, 2018

Microsoft has stopped making new Kinect units back in October 2017 but has continued selling what was left of their stock of the console add-on. Now, the company has quit making the Kinect adapter for newer Xbox units, as well.

This puts the final nail in the coffin for the motion-sensing device, which has seen the end of its production life back in late October last year. Microsoft has made an announcement back then, confirming that it is halting production of the device and that retailers will get no more once they have sold out what few remaining units of Kinect they have left.

The new announcement, on the other hand, will now severely cut down the chance that an Xbox One S or Xbox One X owner will be able to use a Kinect sensor if they happen to get their hands on one.

"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," a Microsoft representative confirmed to Polygon via a statement.

The representative declined to go into detail on what the company plans to make that can replace the Kinect or the Xbox Kinect Adapter. Instead, the rep just opted to confirm that both "will no longer be available."

Even back in 2016, Microsoft seemed to be keen on leaving Kinect support behind, when it launched the newer Xbox One S without the custom port needed to connect the voice-activated, motion sensing peripheral to the console.

The Xbox Kinect Adapter served as a way to plug in the Kinect to an Xbox One, PC or Xbox One S via a USB port. It used to cost $40 when it was available.

The Xbox Kinect Adapter is now listed as "Out of Stock" on the official Xbox store, as well as other retailers including Amazon, Best Buy and GameStop.