No Plans for a Kinect-Free Xbox One Confirmed

“We have no plans to introduce an Xbox One without Kinect. We believe in Kinect and the value it brings to both games and entertainment, and believe $499 is a great value for what consumers receive with their Xbox One," said a Microsoft spokesmouth in July. Well, that remains true... but there is a twist.

Marc Whitten, the chief architect of Xbox One has come front and centre and made the statement that signals a partial about turn on the much maligned peripheral's removal from the news console in at least one form.

Whitten told IGN that, "You have the ability to completely turn the sensor off in your settings. When in this mode, the sensor is not collecting any information. Any functionality that relies on voice, video, gesture or more won't work."

The company however, rushed to confirm that this does not mean that Xbox Ones will be made available without a compulsory Kinect 2 included in the bundle, telling Kotaku:

"Though we’ve changed this requirement (for always on Kinect), Kinect is still an essential and integrated part of the Xbox One platform."

This, of course, also means no price drops.