Microsoft: Stripping Kinect from Xbox One will actually lead to more Kinect sales overall

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May 14, 2014

Removing Kinect from Xbox One bundles is actually going to help the camera technology sell more units in the long run, according to Head of Xbox Phil Spencer. Speaking with GameSpot sister site CNET, Spencer outlined what you might think sounds like a backwards strategy.

"In the long run, I think we'll actually end up with more Xbox Ones with Kinect out there with this strategy," Spencer said.

Going by Spencer's logic, he thinks that the Xbox One's new $399 price point will drive more people to the system in the short-term, and later on they'll discover that they want a Kinect camera to fill out the overall Xbox One experience.

"If consumers choose that they don't want Kinect, or they want to add it later, we're going to make that available. But this is about a continuum and in the end, I hope everyone sees that the experience with Kinect is the best Xbox One experience," Spencer added.

Starting this fall, you'll be able to buy a standalone Kinect camera for the Xbox One, but Microsoft isn't saying what this will cost. The current Kinect camera for Xbox 360 sells for $100.

Microsoft's decision to make Kinect optional for Xbox One has not been universally praised. Staffers at Kinect-focused studio Harmonix (Dance Central, Rock Band, Fantasia) spoke less-than-enthusiastically about the move yesterday. Meanwhile, Zumba Fitness studio Zoë Mode told Develop that dropping Kinect "all but kills the chances" of an original Kinect game.