Microsoft might just ditch Kinect for Mixed Reality in Future for Xbox Consoles

While the whole Gaming Media is hyping about Xbox One X, 4K gaming, and the pricing, the absence of Kinect from Xbox One X went unnoticed. There is absolutely no chatter about Kinect at E3, nor Microsoft has said anything about Kinect bundle as they did with Xbox One at launch.

In my Opinion, Microsoft might just ditch Kinect in future, and let Mixed Reality take over in near future.

Microsoft ditched a dedicated port for Kinect starting from Xbox One S. The same happened with Xbox One X. What was surprising was the absolute silence when it comes to Kinect. Microsoft has never been so quite about it. This might mark the end of the least used accessory for Xbox, the Kinect. I had hardly used mine right from Xbox 360, and on Xbox One, which at least came with a dedicated Kinect port.

Looks like Microsoft has finally realized that the gaming community was doing much about Kinect, except for a handful of games, and with announced of Mixed Reality on Windows 10,  it was only making sense to quietly say good by to Kinect. OEMs like Acer, Dell, and others are coming with affordable Mixed Reality headset this September, and it does not need high-end PC configuration to experience it.

Xbox One Software is powered by Windows 10, and it’s evolving rapidly. I won’t be surprised if Microsoft adds Windows 10 like support for the console as well, making it one-stop box to do almost anything.  The console has the Edge browser already, it has Live TV support, apps like Groove, and Media Playback apps are already available.

So how does one use a Camera or Microphone with Xbox One, if Kinect has to go? Like I mentioned Xbox One is powered by Windows 10, and if Microsoft decides to ditch Kinect, it will be only a matter of time for them to enable Webcam support for the console. It might take time, but I don’t see any reason why it will not happen.

That said, Microsoft is yet to announce bundles for Xbox One X.  We will get more information as the pre-order time approaches, but I doubt anybody will buy Xbox One X with Kinect which will cost another $100, and the price one has to pay for the adapter.

Coming back to Mixed Reality point, Microsoft has announced a couple of VR games, but not much. I am guessing that withing a year, a big push for VR on Xbox consoles will be seen, and it will be enough to replace the Kinect.

It’s time to say Good Bye to Kinect.!