Microsoft Ends Production of the Kinect Adapter

Months after ending the production of Kinect, Microsoft today announced the end for the Kinect Adapter. With the launch of the Xbox One S, Microsoft removed the proprietary port required by Kinect owners to connect their device to an Xbox. Microsoft offered a free Kinect Adapter to some new Xbox One S users upgrading from the Xbox One during the initial launch of its new console, although the deal soon ended with the launch of the Xbox One X, requiring customers to buy an adapter for $39.

But the Kinect Adapter has been out of stock across multiple retailers for a while. And the obvious reason behind that is the fact that Microsoft has completely stopped manufacturing these adapters. The company confirmed in a statement to Polygon that the production of the Kinect Adapter has been stopped, but the company will continue to invest in “higher fan-requested gaming accessories” going forward. “After careful consideration, we decided to stop manufacturing the Xbox Kinect Adapter to focus attention on launching new, higher fan-requested gaming accessories across Xbox One and Windows 10,” the spokesperson said.

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The (almost) non-existent supply of the Kinect Adapter has led to a staggering increase in the prices of the adapter on sites like eBay and Amazon, where sellers are charging more than $100 for the adapter, with some charging up to $300. Kinect owners aren’t happy with Microsoft’s move to kill the adapter, either — the listing for the product on Microsoft’s official store, for example, is being bombarded with 1-star reviews following the announcement.

Kinect was one of the more innovative products Microsoft released over the last decade. While the product may not have been successful, the technology behind it is being used in other Microsoft products such as the HoloLens, and it even inspired groundbreaking Windows features like Windows Hello in Windows 10.

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Conversation 24 comments

  • Jules Wombat

    03 January, 2018 - 7:32 am

    <p>"<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">While the product may not have been successful" – well only apart from being the highest selling consumer device for a [short while] </span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Like most innovative consumer devices from Microsoft, the real disspointment is that Microsoft failed to further develop Kinnect, into a smaller, cheaper device or even XBox incorporated device. At least the microphone should have been incorporated into core XBox units. Instead it was left to languish, and then charging $39 for a simple adapter, and surprise surprise consumer interest and market dried up. </span></p><p><br></p>

    • chaad_losan

      05 January, 2018 - 6:40 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#234658"><em>In reply to Jules_Wombat:</em></a></blockquote><p>It's not a simple adapter by any means it has it's own power supply and multiple cables to plug into. I have one and there is nothing simple about it. There is a reason it's $40.</p>

      • jdallen

        06 October, 2018 - 5:14 am

        <blockquote><em><a href="#235510">In reply to chaad_losan:</a></em></blockquote><p>Dude, it is as simple as they come. I've made my own by following YouTube videos. It's literally just a USB 3.0 cable combined with a 12v 3A power supply. You can buy both for about £10-£15 off the shelf, so probably a fraction of that for a big manufacturer (maybe a few dollars). There is no reason for it being $40 other than the hard realities of low supply and high demand – they know people will still buy them, so why not Jack up the price</p>

  • davejramos

    03 January, 2018 - 8:12 am

    <p>What to do about the microphone and IR blasting support now. I use both often still. And while seemingly opposite of this announcement, I enjoy using both. It makes the experience better. </p>

    • Jallopy

      03 January, 2018 - 8:17 am

      <blockquote><a href="#234661"><em>In reply to davejramos:</em></a></blockquote><p>The newer units (XBOX ONE S and X) have IR blasters built in, and the voice command do work via headset mic. I was concerned when upgrading to the X, but the integrated blaster works well.</p>

      • Chris Payne

        03 January, 2018 - 3:19 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#234662"><em>In reply to Jallopy:</em></a></blockquote><p>Thanks for that info! I've been wondering the same thing and haven't found a good source of info on that.</p>

  • Polycrastinator

    03 January, 2018 - 8:45 am

    <p>Such a shame that Microsoft allowed this accessory to languish: I remember using it on the 360, and controlling the console by waving my hands around felt like the future in a lot of ways. They never found a killer app for it, though. I wonder if they'd just found one or two games that really used the device, things would have been different? (I remember when Homeworld Remastered came out on PC, thinking that standing in front of a TV playing that, using your hands to grab and position ships in 3d space would have been incredible, and still consider that an enormous missed opportunity for Kinnect.)</p>

  • Bill Russell

    03 January, 2018 - 9:24 am

    <p>Still sticking with the 360 and got a Kinnect from ebay for $25 a year ago. I can see why it wasn't successful as it is often a PITA to use gestures, but is pretty good for kinnect sports and just dance, etc.</p>

  • wolters

    Premium Member
    03 January, 2018 - 9:28 am

    <p>I've come to accept the loss of the Kinect. I did purchase a new Kinect and Adapter for my XBOX One X but when it goes out, it is officially over then. In hindsight, I should have purchased an extra adapter but I hope it will last a few years. </p>

  • jules75

    03 January, 2018 - 11:09 am

    <p>My main reason for using the Kinect, or for still using a Kinect is for Skype. It's great being able to get the family around the sofa and chatting to family in remote locations. It will be a shame if I loose that (if the Kinect breaks).</p><p><br></p><p>Does anyone know if you can use a 3rd party webcam on the Xbox?</p>

    • chaad_losan

      05 January, 2018 - 6:41 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#234734"><em>In reply to jules75:</em></a></blockquote><p>Yes you can now.</p>

  • ChuckOp

    Premium Member
    03 January, 2018 - 12:02 pm

    <p>Ugh. I got a Xbox One X for Christmas and now it can't control my TV and cable box for power and volume control.</p>

    • Jeff Mills

      03 January, 2018 - 12:32 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#234764"><em>In reply to ChuckOp:</em></a></blockquote><p>Yes it can. You just can't control it with your voice w/o the use of a headset. The 1X has an IR blaster on the front of the console. You can still control your Audio equipment/etc through the xbox app on your phone otherwise. </p>

  • Chris_Kez

    Premium Member
    03 January, 2018 - 1:00 pm

    <p>Any guesses what kind of<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> “higher fan-requested gaming accessories” the Xbox team is working on going forward? The first thing that comes to mind is VR headsets. </span></p>

    • Mr_MDavis

      03 January, 2018 - 6:02 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#234781"><em></em>In reply to Chris_Kez</a>:</blockquote><p>VR is one possibility but the feature I hope they are working on is adapting just the microphone from the Kinetic and adding that as both a USB add on as well as built into the future XBoxs. </p><p><br></p><p>If they can give the XB1 the same voice capability as it had with the Kinect for little or no extra cost that would a great selling point. With Cortana they could even market the XB1 as having “Alexa” capabilities built in. If they are smart (and they are) they will also add API’s that allow mini programs to run on the XB1 to interact with Cortana to add user customizable features. These features could perhaps allow a gamer to have Cortana order him a pizza at a local pizzeria while he is hiding in a shack in the middle of a PUBG game. </p><p><br></p><p>Of of course they would have to have the cost of materials for this device to be under, say $15 in quantities of 100K to be able to put it in the XB1 without significantly raising the price or to sell in an external version under $50. </p>

    • IanYates82

      Premium Member
      03 January, 2018 - 8:35 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#234781"><em>In reply to Chris_Kez:</em></a></blockquote><p>Of course, this isn't an offset. It's not like they couldn't continue making the adaptors *and* make a headset. No designer, or probably any member of the xbox team, is dedicated to working on the adaptors. </p><p>It's a case of "bad news – no no, look over here at the shiny instead" :)</p>

  • LouS

    03 January, 2018 - 4:48 pm

    <p>Recently we moved my sons' Xbox1 to his room and he didn't want the Kinect; I wanted to hook it up to my Xbox1S but I couldn't find the adapter at a decent price. Not that big a deal I guess… Would have been nice to have used Skype on my Xbox but I'll live without it.</p>

  • sj3vans

    03 January, 2018 - 5:28 pm

    <p>We bought the Minecraft edition of the Xbox One S for Christmas and were pretty excited, until we realized our Kinect from our old Xbox One didn't work. I guess we're one of the few who actually use it. We even chose the "Just Dance 2018" game for the bundle since we really enjoy older versions when we have parties, especially for my teenage girls. The game says it will also work with a cell phone app using the cell phone as a sensor. However, when my girls looked at the instructions to grip their phone tightly in their hand as they danced, they both said "absolutely not." There's no way they were going to dance with an expensive cell phone in their hand. </p><p><br></p><p>We also use Skype and love the way Xbox One worked with that. We have a family call that we did last year using the Xbox One and it was wonderful. This year, we had to use my PC sitting on a table in front of the TV. It was not optimal. </p><p><br></p><p>Unfortunately, we may decide to return the S. </p><p><br></p><p>It just amazes me how Microsoft creates something really great, get's a following of loyal customers, and then kills it. I've owned three Windows phones, 2 windows Bands, and, yes, the Zune. When will I learn my lesson…</p><p><br></p>

    • crfonseca

      Premium Member
      09 January, 2018 - 8:34 am

      <blockquote><a href="#234877"><em>In reply to sj3vans:</em></a></blockquote><p>To be fair, there's nothing wrong with companies getting rid of failed products, the real problem, to me at least, is not replacing them with something better.</p><p>Microsoft approach always seems to be: try something, let it linger until it fails, and finally dropping it.</p><p>I'm pretty sure these days the Kinect sensor could be replaced by something far smaller and cheaper, I mean, they've managed to fit the Windows Hello sensor and the microphone array for Cortana in a tablet. And yet, they simply give up.</p>

  • chaad_losan

    05 January, 2018 - 6:42 pm

    <p>I have with with a kinetic on an XBOX ONE S. Works perfectly. </p>

  • flipside

    Premium Member
    19 January, 2018 - 11:04 am

    <p>All , Just a thought could someone poke MS and ask if tehy would/are considering adding full Windows Hello Wwebcam support to teh XBOX as it seems to me this would supply most of teh non gaming functioanlity i.e face recognition and voice recognition as IIRC teh spec states they must have array MIC and Skype</p>

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