Microsoft's PR campaign for its new console, the Xbox One, just gets worse and worse. As if the company's requirements for the Xbox One concerning a Big Brother-type Kinect, online requirement, and used game policy hadn't already limited the interest in the new console enough, Microsoft announced that only a mere 21 countries would be able to support it at launch.
Why? The blanket answer is that it's only in these countries where Live is supported, the means by which the Xbox One maintains a connection to the internet. Microsoft didn't get into specifics why it's only these countries that support Live when they revealed the news.
Sure, other countries will no doubt crawl onto the list eventually. It'll be business suicide to ignore the remaining 170 countries and change, but it's anyone's guess as to when exactly Microsoft will put them on the list. Until then, if you're in Poland, Romania, Japan, South Africa, Bermuda, South Korea, Chile, Greece, India, or God only knows how many other developed (or developing) countries of the world, I'm afraid all the Xbox One will be to you is a glorified DVD player-cum-settop box.
Maybe you're a Microsoft lifer, who hasn't been swayed by all the requirements just yet, and your mind is already made up that you're buying an Xbox One over a Wii U, or the PlayStation 4. Well, here's the last thing to cross off your list. Below you'll find a list of the 21 countries in all that will support the console at launch. As long as your country is named, you're golden. If not, well...you could always write a complaint e-mail to Microsoft.
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Brazil
- Canada
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Ireland
- Italy
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Russia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
- United States
The Xbox One will launch this November, and retail for $499. A variety of different models for the console are expected, but as of yet, are to be announced.