Microsoft’s Kinect is officially dead as manufacturing comes to an end

Back in 2010, Microsoft had a swing and a miss with the original Kinect sensor. The Xbox 360 add-on sold well at first but after the initial burst, things dwindled very quickly and software support was minimal at best. At the start of the Xbox One cycle, Microsoft tried again but it didn’t take long for Kinect 2.0 to end up suffering the same fate. Now, Microsoft is showing mercy, and pulling the plug on Kinect entirely.

According to a report from Co.Design, Microsoft has officially put an end to Kinect manufacturing. The camera is already listed as out of stock on the Microsoft store and once remaining units are sold, it is unlikely we will see them back again.

Microsoft will continue to support the Kinect for those who own one. Right now, there is said to be around 35 million Kinect sensors still out in the wild. Development tools likely won’t be updated though and I can’t imagine we will see any Kinect-specific software coming our way unless some really enthusiastic indie developer jumps on it.

While Kinect may have failed, Microsoft isn’t done exploring new technologies. This year, the company rolled out Mixed Reality support for Windows 10, which will hopefully fare better than Kinect did.

KitGuru Says: Given that the Xbox One X doesn’t include a Kinect port, and the standard Xbox One and One S no longer come bundles with the Kinect at all, this news isn’t too surprising. It has been a long time coming, but the Kinect is no more. How many of you have used a Kinect in the past? Do any of you still own one?

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