The Xbox One has a China release date. Again.
Microsoft Corp. said on Tuesday that its new game console will go on sale in the world’s No. 2 economy this coming Monday. The disclosure comes after the Redmond, Wash., technology giant over the weekend pulled the plug on its initial Tuesday – that’s Sept. 23 – release date.
"After receiving government approval for the first wave of games, we will launch with the first 10 games now and continue our work to bring more blockbuster games and a broad offering of entertainment and app experiences to the platform in the weeks and months to come,” said Enwei Xie, general manager of Xbox China, in a statement.
Asked why the console was delayed, a Microsoft spokeswoman said "we wanted to launch with the first approved game titles right away." She didn’t immediately respond to questions about whether the games were delayed.
The Xbox One would become the first game console to be legally sold in China in more than a decade. Foreign videogame consoles and games have long been banned in China due to concerns about their impact on children, but the country removed the ban last year for companies operating within a new free trade zone in Shanghai. Microsoft invested in a joint venture within the zone with a Chinese partner, BesTV New Media, to develop videogames.
Games initially approved for sale by regulators include "Forza Motorsport 5," "Zoo Tycoon," a Chinese title called "Naughty Kitties." Microsoft said the company and its joint-venture partner have a pipeline of 70 titles they want to bring into China.
Missing from the initial list of official titles are some of the Xbox One’s most popular and violent shoot-‘em-ups such as "Titanfall" and "Call of Duty: Ghosts.”
How the console is likely to do once it finally does land in China remains an open question. Despite the ban, game consoles and pirated games have long been available in China’s freewheeling electronics markets, yet China’s gamers have tended to prefer playing games on personal computers. As in the U.S., many have recently begun switching to more casual games on smartphones.
Pricing could also be a challenge. Microsoft said it plans to sell the Xbox One with the Kinect motion detection system for 4,299 yuan ($700), roughly 40% more than in the U.S.