Yesterday it was announced that Microsoft would be launching an Xbox One bundle without Kinect. Today it has emerged that the platform holder is considering allowing developers access to the additional processing power allowed by removing the Kinect from the equation.
As widely reported at the time of the console's launch, the Kinect uses up a chunk of the Xbox One's processing power. However, the news that some of the consoles will, from next month, be bundled without the controversial camera, has prompted some to ask whether they'll be able to utilise the spare processing power left unused by the once-compulsory peripheral.
"We are in discussions with our game publishers about what we might do in this space and we will have more to talk about soon," Mehdi told Polygon.
Exactly what this would mean remains unclear. While some studios would likely utilise the additional power, bringing the Xbox One closer to PS4 in terms of performance, doing so could potentially divide the console's user base between those who use Kinect and those who don't, or at the very least, some games might require you to disconnect the camera.
As part of the same charm offensive, Microsoft has also confirmed that they're going to be tweaking the Xbox One's UI to optimise it better for people who grab the Kinect-less version of the console. Speaking with Engadget, Yusuf Mehdi said: "We do want to find ways to give you some of those shortcuts and make some of the things that we have with Kinect easier with the controller. You can expect to see us do a bunch of things over the coming months to make the experience easier and easier, even if you don't have a Kinect."