After betting so much on it for many years, Mike Ybarra of Microsoft has finally confirmed during an interview with Windows Central that the newest update on Xbox One will no longer feature Kinect based gestures.
"... When we looked at the 'New Xbox One Experience' we wanted to prioritize features that customers were asking for, plus areas of improvement from the existing Xbox One UI. Then, we wanted to look at the use-case model of features that take a lot of investment and say, 'is it worth continuing to invest in that area?
"With gestures, the reality was the usage was very,very low. So for now, we've cut that from the New Xbox One Experience.So when we launch on the 12th, they won't be in the product. We'll continue to monitor and listen to feedback to see if people want them in," Ybarra revealed.
On the lighter side, voice commands will still work. Ybarra confirmed with Motherboard that the Kinect gestures will still be available for games and apps that use them.
It was in the year 2013 when the Xbox One launched with Kinect as part of their bundle. It was described by Microsoft as "a core part of the architecture." Later on, Microsoft had Kinect as a mandatory addition to its console bundles. This addition made it more competitive with Sony's PlayStation4.
Now, gamers are in for another ride with Microsoft's announcement of the New Xbox One Experience. With it comes the development of backwards compatibility, something the Microsoft team didn't at first believe could happen, as well as the integration of the newest Windows -- Windows 10 -- into the Xbox.
Ybarra thanks the users for providing them with customer feedback that allowed them to work on developments that are somehow inspired by the fans and geared by their engineering team. Although he admits it becomes challenging at times, he is still thankful because of their engagement with the fans, they have become more transparent.
