After Microsoft finally came clean about everything their next generation console, the Xbox One, would do/require, most people were outraged at the company’s forceful strategy, which would remove their potential customers’ options and instead try to sell a system they would still control and be able to keep track of what you were doing/playing.

Eventually Microsoft buckled under the building pressure and smartly decided to remove the restrictions that had so many irate, and at the cost of having to sacrifice some of the features they were excited about introducing.

Now comes something else that could lead to more anger. It’s been officially confirmed that the Xbox One will not come with a headset. Even worse, your Xbox 360 headset and those fancy Turtle Beach headphones you bought also will not fully work with the new console.

There will of course be plenty of accessories available for the new console when it’s released, like the basic official Xbox One headset, and including new products from Turtle Beach and others like them. But that doesn’t make it any easier to swallow. The headset that comes with the Xbox 360 you could understand not working with the One, and the set linked above likely won’t cost a whole lot more than $20 to $30, yet that’s $20 to $30 more than the already $100 more than a PlayStation 4 that the console will cost you and you’d like to think that the fancier headsets you already own would still work perfectly fine. But you don’t make any money that way, now do you?

If you don’t need to talk to anyone your audio only headsets should still work, but chatting with friends during a game won’t work. For that you’ll need new compatible headphones. And Turtle Beach will apparently be offering an adapter so that their new next-gen headphones will be able to work with the Xbox 360.

And what if you don’t want to buy a new headset on top of the $500 Xbox One? Well, there’s an answer for that: your shiny new Kinect…that you may or may not have wanted but are getting anyway.

Here’s a statement from Microsoft:

Xbox One does not include a pack-in headset accessory. Each Xbox One includes the new Kinect sensor, with a highly sensitive multi-array microphones designed to enable voice inputs and chat as a system-level capability, both in-game and with Skype and other experiences. For gamers who prefer a headset, we have a variety of offerings that you can find on the Xbox Wire.

Is this as devastating as other things we’ve heard over the course of this bumpy next-gen introductory stage? Not really, no. But it does have “how can we make even MORE money?” written all over it, and that’s annoying.

Are you open to purchasing a brand new headset for next-gen gaming?

UPDATE: A recent unboxing has shown a headset included after all, though Turtle Beach headsets and the like probably still won’t work.

[Source: ARS Technica]