The Xbox One will officially be delayed until 2014 in eight European marktes due to issues with localizing the console's dashboard, adding additional voice and language support and a lack of substantial apps and "meaningful local content" according to the Xbox Leadership Team's official Xbox Wire blog post.
Residents in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland will have to wait until an undetermined time in 2014 before they can purchase the next-generation console.
This puts the list of European countries getting the console on time in November at: The U.K., Spain, France, Ireland, Germany, Italy and Austria. This brings the number of confirmed countries that will have the Xbox One at launch to 13 once the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, Canada, New Zealand and Australia are counted in. While CNET points out that 13 countries that span four continents is nothing to scoff at, the delay will likely prove a point of contention for many European customers. This is especially true since the company promised a lot more than 13 for the November 2013 launch.
"At E3, we announced that Xbox One would be available in 21 markets around the world at launch. This was an aggressive goal and the team has been working very hard to deliver Xbox One to as many markets as possible," the company said in a rare acknowledgement. As a result of failing to meet the 21 market goal, Microsoft will be giving away a free game along with the console for those customers who pre-ordered the Xbox one in countries where it has been delayed. There is currently no word yet as to which game that will be.
This isn't the first backtracking that Microsoft and Xbox has had to do post E3. The company has had to reverse several policies including its game sharing, internet connectivity and Kinect restrictions that posed a public relations nightmare for the company after a huge negative backlash.
