Posted Thu Aug 15, 2013 at 08:30 AM PDT by Brian Hoss
"This was an aggressive goal."
At E3, Microsoft announced that there would be 21 lucky markets set to receive the Xbox One in 2013. Yesterday, citing a desire to ensure that "our customers get the best Xbox One experience the first day it is available," Microsoft crossed 8 territories off of that list of 21.
The 13 markets that Microsoft is confirming will receive the Xbox One in November include Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand.
The eight markets that have slid to sometime in 2014 include Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Additional reasoning behind the change from the Xbox Leadership Team is as follows, "While we wish we could launch Xbox One simultaneously in these markets, there are many factors that determine the timing of specific market launches. This includes work to localize the Xbox One dash, incorporate additional voice and languages, and build partnerships to bring apps and meaningful local content to each country."
One side effect to the reversal for the countries involved is customer pre-orders, and Microsoft is looking to compensate customers in the left-behind territories. "To show our appreciation for your patience, if you have already preordered an Xbox One Day One system before today in those countries, you will also receive a pack-in game with your console when it launches."
The worldwide response to the original list of 21 territories was less than warm, but a major factor in that poor reception was due to the severe region restrictions that Microsoft was proposing. Those region restrictions are now part of the next-gen vision that Microsoft left behind when it elected to dispense with its proposed Xbox One DRM scheme.
Source: Xbox
Author: Brian Hoss
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
The latest news on all things 4K Ultra HD, blu-ray and Gear.