Xbox One’s Kinect Will Not Work On PCs But Windows Dev Program Is Available

The Xbox One will come fitted with Microsoft’s Kinect sensor and is part of the reason the cost of the Xbox One is a lot higher than that of the PlayStation 4. Yet the Kinect for Xbox One will not work on the PC platform as it has a custom connector, despite the fact that the Xbox One does actually run a Windows based operating system.

The “incompatibility” is more a deliberate choice of Microsoft than anything. In terms of Kinect for PC Microsoft have launched a Kinect development program for Windows with a limited number of spots for developers. For €/$399 interested people can enlist in the Windows Kinect PC development program and will receive a pre-release Alpha sensor, followed by a final sensor as well as access to all API and sample docunmentation, early SDK files and support from the Windows engineering team.

What all this means is that if the Kinect for Windows development program goes well, we could see Kinect made available for Windows within the next year or so with a price of around $100 if these figures are anything to go by. That said it is also possible Microsoft might subsidise the cost of the Kinect for the PC to sell more games for it.

Image courtesy of Microsoft