Xbox boss Phil Spencer revealed today that the recent XBox One system update has enabled games developers on the platform to access more of the system's GPU bandwidth, and it has since been confirmed that said resources were those previously reserved for the Kinect, prior to the recent change of heart that designated the once mandatory motion controller as an optional peripheral. (via Eurogamer):

When asked if the two were related, a Microsoft spokesperson sent Eurogamer the following response:

"Yes, the additional resources allow access to up to 10 per cent additional GPU performance. We're committed to giving developers new tools and flexibility to make their Xbox One games even better by giving them the option to use the GPU reserve in whatever way is best for them and their games."

And will this mean more games will hit the 1080p 60fps benchmark that's all the rage these days, I asked?

"Xbox One games look beautiful and have rich gameplay and platform features. How developers choose to access the extra GPU performance for their games will be up to them. We have started working with a number of developers on how they can best take advantage of these changes. We will have more to share in the future."

The Xbox One offerings of several multiplatform titles have consistently underperformed their PS4 and PC counterparts in side by side comparisons, so it will be interesting to see if this move will restore some parity. As for games that still want to use Kinect in some way, is 'for best performance, please switch off Kinect' going to be a thing?