Microsoft to start selling standalone Kinect for Xbox One in October

After Microsoft Corp. began selling its Xbox One video game system without Kinect, sales of the console increased rather significantly thank to lower price. The software giant naturally does not want to completely give up its motion sensor, so, starting from October it will offer Kinect separately to those, who own the Kinect-free Xbox One bundles.

Microsoft Corp. plans to sell standalone Kinect sensor for its Xbox One video game console for $149.99 in the U.S. The device will come with a free copy of Dance Central Spotlight from Harmonix, which will be available as a digital download and contain 10 music tracks. The title is designed for Kinect, so, it will demonstrate all the pros and cons of the sensor.

The price of the standalone sensor should clearly indicate that users who buy Xbox One with Kinect for $499 get  better pricing than those who get the console and the sensor separately. At the same time Microsoft still provides a bonus in the form of a free game to make Kinect more appealing. Perhaps, it would make more sense for Microsoft to keep the Kinect’s price at $99 so that to give a clear message that the device is affordable and could be bought at any time, which would attract customers to Xbox One in general.

It is natural for Microsoft to offer discrete Kinect to owners of Xbox One, but given that the motion sensor is no longer bundled with absolutely all Xbox One consoles, game developers will hardly optimise their titles for the sensor or use its exclusive capabilities. Naturally, sports or dance games will continue to take advantage of Kinect, but mainstream games will not use its features.

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KitGuru Says: Keeping in mind that a lot of customers bought Xbox One consoles only after Microsoft removed Kinect from the bundle, it will be interesting to see how many standalone Kinects the company will sell. If people did not want any motion sensors initially, why will they buy it separately? It is also noteworthy that the Kinect for Xbox One costs $50 less compared to the Kinect v2 for Windows…

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