When Microsoft first announced the Xbox One, they also announced the Kinect 2.0, and...well, most people groaned. The original camera peripheral for the Xbox 360 wasn't exactly great (despite its sales numbers), and most people were more excited about the potential gaming announcements than another half-baked motion-controlled camera.
Then, after the Xbox One stumbled out of the gate, Microsoft did something surprising: they un-bundled the Kinect from the Xbox One. It paid off, too: the $100 price-cut sent sales skyrocketing, and it helped Microsoft secure the top spot in the holiday shopping season last year. Since then, the Kinect has basically...disappeared.
So, if the Kinect is such a small part of the Xbox One these days, does anyone even bother to use it anymore? Well, according to Xbox chief marketing officer Mike Nichols (via Polygon), yes - in fact, the 'vast majority' of Kinect owners still use it.
"I can say that the people with Kinect still make up a very, very sizable portion and that those people do use it quite frequently. Less for games, but a lot more for biometric sign-in and user interface."
There's one part of that statement that sticks out: the fact that the Kinect is used for convenience more than anything else basically proves that the camera works as an optional add-on, but not necessarily as a core part of the experience. To be fair, using the Kinect for sign-in and voice control is actually pretty handy - but for most, it won't be worth the extra $100.
"When the team was launching we assumed 100% ownership and use of the Kinect. There was a simplification from a design perspective. Now we're not designing for everyone who has it or everyone doesn't have it. We're designing for a good chunk who have it and use it and some new customers who now have decided to get an Xbox One who don't have a Kinect, at least not yet."
At the very least, Microsoft isn't completely ditching the idea of a connected camera, though it's clear that the Kinect is becoming less and less important to the Xbox brand. Microsoft has already started quietly phasing out features that no one used, such as gesture-based menu controls - as Nichols put it, "Why should we keep designing for that scenario?"
Microsoft has already started ramping up for its holiday season, with a number of new Xbox One bundles already on the way - and yes, before you ask, some of them do come with a Kinect.
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