Kinect for Windows being phased out

Microsoft is ceasing production of Kinect for Windows, instead encouraging developers to use the Xbox One version and its recently announced PC adaptor.

The announcement was made via the Kinect for Windows Blog, which Microsoft’s senior technology evangelist Michael Fry said this was part of “an effort to simplify and create consistency for developers”.

The Kinect Adapter enables devs to connect an Xbox One version of the sensor to any Windows 8.0 and 8.1 PC, as well as Microsoft tablets. The two editions of Kinect share an SDK so devs will be able to create apps and games that use the motion-sensing camera in exactly the same way. 

Kinect for Xbox One can also be used for Windows app development, playing into Microsoft’s strategy of universal apps that work across all of its platform, including the games console.

“Microsoft remains committed to Kinect as a development platform on both Xbox and Windows,” wrote Fry. “So while we are no longer producing the Kinect for Windows v2 sensor, we want to assure developers who are currently using it that our support for the Kinect for Windows v2 sensor remains unchanged and that they can continue to use their sensor.”

Plans for Kinect were called into question last year when Microsoft decided to drop the device from the standard Xbox One bundle. It has since updated the device’s SDK with new features.

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