Xbox One won’t launch in Asia until late 2014
At E3 2013, Microsoft announced their pricing of the Xbox One where it will go on sale for $499. The Xbox One will launch in November of 2013 for 21 markets including the UK and Europe. Microsoft however was silent about Asia markets.
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft’s regional vice president for sales and marketing in Asia, Alan Bowman, said that the Xbox One will not launch in Asia until late 2014. This is due to the fact that Microsoft is working on offering localized content for the Asian markets. On top of that, Microsoft is also working on customizing certain features of the Xbox One such as the Kinect.
“For example, the Kinect motion sensor – which will come standard with Xbox One – can work within “dramatically reduced” room sizes, particularly useful for many across cities like Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong, where flats tend to be smaller.”
For the time being, Microsoft will focus their attention on the Xbox 360 in the region and expanding the offerings of games available. They hope to be able to drive sales, ideally enough until the launch of their next gen console.
The Xbox One will only launch in select countries in Asia, namely Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and India which Microsoft has pegged as high-growth markets for the region’s booming gaming industry. Japan however is not on Microsoft’s list, a region which the Xbox 360 struggled in.