> I think robotics research is probably a reason why they're discontinuing it. Why support something that only exists outside the walled garden?

This is pretty unfair. Microsoft released Kinect 2.0 for Windows[1], with a developer SDK, specifically for the community to hack on. It even supports Windows Embedded.

I can't in my wildest dreams imagine that they thought that product would be a money maker.

[1] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=445...