Kinect

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The Kinect was a line of peripherals sold by Microsoft for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Windows hardware. Its first public release was for the Xbox 360 on November 4th, 2010.[1][2] It was formerly planned by Microsoft that the Kinect for Xbox One would be mandatory for launch Xbox One hardware to function,[3] however due to consumer backlash,[4] this was lifted before launch. In 2014, the hardware stopped being bundled with Xbox One consoles.[5]

Kinect
Basic Information
Release Year 2010
Product Type accessory, peripheral
In Production No
Official Website

In 2019, the Azure Kinect released,[6][7] being the first standalone Kinect hardware that did not see a shared release on Xbox. On Aug 21, 2023 it was discontinued and the Kinect line was deprecated.[8]

Consumer-impact summary

  • User Freedom: Formerly planned to be mandatory for use with Xbox One on launch;[3] currently unsupported by Microsoft and incompatible with Xbox Series consoles and later.[9] Users have reported questionable compatibility on Windows for all models except for Azure.[10][11][12]
  • User Privacy: Patents showed the Kinect potentially monitoring its users for advertising purposes,[13] despite claims from Microsoft that it would be in violation of their Privacy Policy.[14]
  • Business Model: Sales as hardware accessory and mandatory for some games, such as Kinect Adventures.
  • Market Control: Not Applicable; Deprecated product line since 2023.[8]

Incidents

This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents related to this product line. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the Kinect category.

Mandatory usage for Xbox One

[To Be Written]

Harmful discontinuations of support

Xbox One Kinect

In October 2017, Microsoft stopped manufacturing the Kinect for Xbox One,[15] and 3 months later, discontinued the adapter necessary for connecting this hardware to both newer Xbox consoles, as well as Windows computers.[9] When the Xbox Series consoles released, they were incompatible with the Kinect, even if the end user has the necessary adapter.[9] This means that any games that rely on Kinect hardware are additionally unplayable on Xbox Series consoles, despite being fully compatible with the rest of the Xbox One library.[16]

Products

  • Kinect for Xbox 360 (2010)
  • Kinect for Windows (2012)
  • Kinect for Xbox One (2013)
  • Kinect 2 for Windows (2014)
  • Azure Kinect (2020)

See also

References

  1. Thorsen, Tor (August 11, 2010). "4GB Xbox 360 official, $300 Kinect bundle coming". GameSpot. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  2. Chen, Jason (Jun 14, 2010). "Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect Launches November 4". Gizmodo. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Schreier, Jason (May 21, 2013). "Xbox One Requires Kinect To Function". Kotaku. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  4. Crecente, Brian (Jun 5, 2013). "Privacy concerns threaten to overshadow Microsoft's new console". Polygon. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  5. Futter, Mike (May 13, 2014). "Microsoft Completes Its 180 And Drops Kinect From Xbox One". GameInformer. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  6. Liao, Shannon (May 7, 2018). "Microsoft is moving Kinect to the cloud". The Verge. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  7. Ranger, Steve (Feb 25, 2019). "What is Microsoft's Azure Kinect DK?". ZDNet. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Peters, Jay (Aug 21, 2023). "Microsoft kills Kinect again". The Verge. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 Gartenberg, Chaim (Jan 2, 2018). "Microsoft has discontinued the Kinect Adapter for newer Xbox One consoles". The Verge. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  10. u/Edmundo-Studios (Mar 19, 2022). "Windows 11 compatibility". Reddit - r/Kinect. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  11. Chelsea (Sep 3, 2022). "Why won't my Xbox 360 Kinect work with windows 11? Should I upgrade to an Xbox One Kinect?". Microsoft Learn forums. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  12. Garcia (Aug 20, 2023). "problems with kinect v2 (Xbox One) on pc". Microsoft Learn Forums. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  13. Sottek, T.C. (May 27, 2013). "Microsoft may award achievements for watching TV and ads by monitoring you with Kinect". The Verge. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  14. McWhertor, Michael (Jun 6, 2013). "Kinect on Xbox One will not record or upload your conversations, Microsoft says". Polygon. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  15. Reisinger, Don (October 25, 2017). "Microsoft Has Finally Killed the Kinect Xbox Sensor". Fortune. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  16. Bonthuys, Darryn (Oct 28, 2020). "Xbox Series X/S Officially Plays Every Game That Works On Xbox One (Except The Kinect Ones)". GameSpot. Retrieved May 7, 2026.