Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s upcoming Xbox One game console will make a big splash at the E3 gaming convention this week. The new game and home-entertainment system will arrive in the United States in November, however it won’t arrive in Asia until late 2014.
Microsoft Yet To Annouce Launch Date Of XBox One In Japan
On Tuesday, the tech company made a confirmation to the Wall Street Journal that Xbox One wouldn’t come to Asia until the latter of next year. According to the report, the device will be offered in Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, South Korea, and Singapore markets. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has yet to make any mentions of the device arriving in Japan. The Japanese market has been a tough one for Xbox and subsequently sales have been slow.
Alan Bowman, the regional vice president for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) sales and marketing in Asia, explained, “We are focusing on delivering games people want to play.” Right now, Microsoft is maintaining their focus on marketing the current Xbox 360. They are also hoping that the Xbox One will entice excitement for the overall Xbox brand and encourage gamers in Asia to purchase the Xbox 360 this year.
Although there is still quite awhile to go before Xbox One gets to China, they do have something to look forward to when it comes out. The upcoming game device will come standard with Kinect and this time it will work with much smaller room sizes. This will come of good use as many homes including Singapore, Hong Kong, and Tokyo have small if not no living rooms.
Bowman added, “We listened to the feedback, not everyone in Asia has living rooms. The field of vision required for Kinect is much smaller.”
One concern involved for Xbox One is the licensing issues for content such as movies, music, and television shows. In the Asian market, standards for television shows are different and there are restrictions involving globally published content and licenses.
