Microsoft Kinect Production has Stopped

Back when the Nintendo Wii was so hot, every game console maker wanted in on the motion controller action. PlayStation had the Move and Microsoft had the Kinect. Fast forward a few years and players really don’t care that much about motion controls anymore with most preferring to use normal controllers for their gaming action. If you happen to be a fan of the Kinect, Microsoft has stopped making it.

As for why production has stopped, there was never really a library of motion controlled games that left gamers feeling compelled to become the controller. Part of the reason that compelling library of games never happened was that to develop a game specifically for Kinect would have left other consoles behind.

The decision to stop Kinect production will impact other users, the Kinect had found its way to use in some interesting places over the years because it also worked on PCs. Even NASA was in on the action controlling a robotic arm with a Kinect back in 2013. Co.Design reports that Microsoft will continue to support Kinect for customers on Xbox, but once hardware runs out at suppliers production is over.

The tech lives on with Kinect powering the Microsoft Hololens. The folks behind Kinect at Microsoft are also now working on some other familiar products like Cortana, Windows Hello, and other projects.