So long, Kinect.
Microsoft said Wednesday that the company will no longer manufacture the Kinect, a motion-tracking and microphone accessory device for the Xbox, confirming a Fast Company report from earlier this morning.
“Manufacturing for Kinect for Xbox One has ended but it is not the end of the journey for the technology,” Microsoft said in a statement shared with GeekWire. “Kinect continues to delight tens of millions of Xbox owners and Kinect innovations live on in Xbox One, Windows 10, Cortana, Windows Mixed Reality and future technologies.”
Microsoft first debuted the Kinect in 2010 for the Xbox 360 and developed a new version for the Xbox One. Support for both devices will continue, Fast Company reported, “but ongoing developer tools remain unclear,” according to Microsoft.
Once a popular device among gamers and developers alike, there were signs of Kinect’s demise over the past few years. Microsoft unbundled the Kinect from the Xbox One in 2014, while following iterations of the console — Xbox One S and Xbox One X — did not have a dedicated port for the Kinect.
Microsoft still uses Kinect technology in other products like HoloLens and Windows Hello. The company has shown interest in embedding Kinect-like technology in various display surfaces.
Microsoft said it sold 35 million Kinect devices, according to the Fast Company report.
