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Standalone PC Kinect sensor coming July 15th for $200

• Egon Kilin
• July 7th, 2014

Today Microsoft began taking pre-orders for the Kinect v2 Sensor, which will become available starting with July 15th. The standalone sensor only works on Windows and can be purchased for the hefty sum of $200. By comparison, the $400 Kinect-free Xbox One doesn’t seem all that expensive now. So what’s with the high price tag? Well, according to the product description, the PC version of the Kinect is more of a development platform than anything else. It’s uncertain if this will end up being useful for gamers at all as Microsoft only talks about what developers can use it for. As a side note, the sensor can only be used with Kinect for Windows SDK 2.0 and will not ship with any other software.

“The Kinect for Windows v2 sensor gives developers more of the precision, responsiveness, and intuitive capabilities they need to develop interactive voice- and gesture-based applications for the Windows desktop and Windows Store. The v2 sensor is intended for use with the Kinect for Windows software development kit (SDK) 2.0. The Kinect for Windows v2 sensor does not ship with any software. It is intended for use with the Kinect for Windows SDK 2.0 (licensed separately) and will operate only with applications developed for Kinect for Windows v2. Developers can use the Kinect for Windows SDK 2.0 to build applications with C++, C#, VB.Net, Cx, or JavaScript.”

Shortly after Microsoft announced the Kinect-free Xbox One earlier this year, they also said that a standalone Xbox One Kinect sensor will be available at some point in the future. Since the Kinect-free Xbox One is $100 cheaper than the regular version, one would assume that a standalone Kinect sensor will cost around $100. However, head of Xbox One Phil Spencer stated last month that “the price probably won’t be exactly $100.” A report from last year mentions that a sensor costs about $75 to manufacture so it remains to be seen just how much they will end up adding to that sum. Spencer believes that the Kinect-free Xbox one doesn’t mark the end of Kinect gaming. The head of Xbox is quite confident that in time more and more people will want to upgrade to the full experience.

I think that all depends on how much the standalone sensor will end up costing, but even more importantly, if there will be enough good games that can benefit from the Kinect. Stay tuned as we bring you all the latest news and updates.