Studio behind Kinect-focused games responds to Kinect going optional for Xbox One

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May 13, 2014

Harmonix, the studio currently making the Kinect-focused music game Fantasia: Music Evolved, has responded to Microsoft's decision today to make Kinect optional for Xbox One.

This move would be potentially detrimental for Fantasia, as it might mean there are fewer Xbox One consoles with Kinect in the wild, thus limiting the market opportunity for the game. Some Harmonix developers tweeted about their apparent displeasure for the decision, but the company has since released a statement that is much more positive about the news.

"As avid gamers, we're excited for fans to have more choices out there. As game makers, this platform change doesn't affect our strategy--it reinforces that we must continue to focus on building innovative, compelling, and well-designed motion experiences to motivate consumers to buy our games," Harmonix said in a statement.

Of course, this challenge is nothing new for Harmonix, which also created the Kinect-required Dance Central series for Xbox 360 where Kinect is also optional.

"We believe that tightly crafted motion games can be great, genre defining interactive experiences, as we've proven with the Dance Central franchise on Kinect for Xbox 360, and we're eager to prove it again with Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved this fall on both Xbox One and Xbox 360," the studio added.

Speaking with GameSpot earlier today, Xbox boss Yusuf Mehdi said that Microsoft made the decision to make Kinect optional for Xbox One "in conjunction with our development partners," but it sounds like Harmonix was not one of them. The new $399 Xbox One goes on sale June 9.