The decision looks to be the final nail in the Kinect coffin after the motion tracking peripheral itself was discontinued in late 2017.
The adapter that allows the Kinect to connect to the Xbox One S and Xbox One X has been discontinued by Microsoft, just months after the company ended production of the motion tracking peripheral itself.
Speaking to Polygon, a Microsoft representative confirmed that the company has decided to turn its focus toward “new, higher fan-requested gaming accessories” and leave the adapter in the dust.
This might be the last nail in the Kinect’s coffin after years of slowly losing support from Microsoft. Without the adapter, a number of Xbox One games made for the Kinect won’t be available to many Xbox One owners
The original, Kinect-compatible Xbox One model was discontinued shortly before the Kinect itself. Neither the X nor S versions of the console feature the port necessary to hook up the Kinect, meaning the adapter is the only way new Xbox One owners could use the Kinect and play the many games made exclusively for the device.
Some Kinect games have since received updates to make them playable without the hardware, but a significant number of those titles still require the Kinect to play.
Microsoft ended production of the Kinect itself last October. The tech debuted in 2010 for the Xbox 360. An upgraded version of the motion tracking hardware launched alongside the Xbox One in 2013, though Microsoft later removed the Kinect from the Xbox One box, trimming $100 off the console’s price at the same time.
