Xbox One S Kinect Port Omission Explained By Microsoft

When Microsoft announced the Xbox One S this E3, it truly seemed to be the definitive version of their newest console, at least until Scorpio comes around and completely rethinks it from the ground up. And it would have been, too… except for one omission.

Look, a lot of us may not care for the Kinect, and Microsoft may have over time completely reduced any use that it might have had, to the point of all but officially dropping support for it, but it definitely is a feature on the Xbox One, and its omission from any Xbox model is troubling. And yet, here was the Xbox One S, which lacked a port to hook up a Kinect entirely. I mean, true, there was an adapter that you could use if you were so inclined, but the fact of the matter was, this seemed to be another nail in Kinect’s coffin, which at this point is full of nails that Spencer has hammered in over the last few years.

In a statement issued to GameHeadQuarters, Microsoft explained their reasoning for omitting the Kinect port. “We wanted to make the Xbox One S as small as possible, something that all our fans will appreciate,” they said. “To create the slimmest form factor and include an internal power supply, we made the decision to remove the Kinect port. Kinect for Xbox One will still be compatible with Xbox One S via the Xbox Kinect Adapter and the experience will not change due to the connection. For fans that currently own a Kinect for Xbox One, we are offering a free Xbox Kinect Adapter to use with Xbox One S.”

That free adapter is definitely much appreciated, and a very nice gesture on Microsoft’s part- but hey, since the Scorpio will definitely be a bigger console (what with it being the world’s most powerful console and all), maybe it will have a port for the Kinect, right? But Microsoft weren’t willing to commit to that yet.

“We have nothing further to share [about a Kinect port on Scorpio] at this time,” they said.

The Xbox One S is due to launch later this year, while the Xbox One Scorpio will be releasing Holiday 2017.