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Xbox One launch delayed in eight countries

3 min read

Xbox One will be launching in November, but the market is getting smaller. It was originally meant to be available in 21 countries, but that has now been reduced to 13. We know South Africa isn’t on the A-list, but why are other countries being downgraded?

In an Xbox wire, Microsoft confirmed that the Xbox would be available in November in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, UK, USA and New Zealand. This means that Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland will have to wait another few months. This will be particularly disappointing for those people who already pre-ordered. Xbox explains:


Oh, but don’t worry if you already preordered:


Really? So language and localization are the issues? Why do I find that hard to believe? I mean, look at Switzerland. They speak French and German there – but were taken off the launch list while France and Germany remain. What’s to stop the Dutch and Belgians from hopping on a train to those countries and buying one sooner (assuming there’s stock)? Truly, Microsoft is being silly by segmenting the EU market; they are so strict about free movement of goods, it’s hard to believe the other countries won’t get hold of the console across borders. If anything, Microsoft is going to make it harder for the people in those launch countries to get a hold of the Xbox One – everyone and their mother will be shipping it around the continent.

I blame the TV. I bet that’s the holdup for the Xbox One. Until they can integrate with all the TV providers, they won’t launch. Meanwhile, the PS4 will be shipping worldwide. It just don’t seem like a wise decision from Xbox. Launch your console, but inform people in those countries that they might not be able to watch TV – who is actually buying the Xbox One on day one to watch TV?

Just when we were getting good news out of Microsoft what with the Kinect not being necessary, now some more bad news. Or who knows, maybe it’s all just a ploy and they will actually announce in another 180 that they will be launching globally!

Last Updated: August 15, 2013

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