Xbox One Launches in China - First Official Console in 13 Years

[Steven Bogos]

Xbox One Launches in China - First Official Console in 13 Years

Microsoft will be the first company to take advantage of the lift on console bans [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125860-China-Prepares-to-End-Console-Ban] in China.

Last year, you may have heard that China was lifting its 13-year-long ban on consoles [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125860-China-Prepares-to-End-Console-Ban] in the country. While Chinese people rejoiced, console manufacturers have been slow to take advantage of the new region. Now, Microsoft is stepping in to announce the launch of the Xbox One in China, which, when it launches in September, will be the first official console launch in China in 13 years.

"Today marks a monumental day for Xbox, as together with our partner BesTV New Media Co., we announced we will bring Xbox One to China in September of this year," wrote Yusuf Mehdi in an official blog post [http://news.xbox.com/2014/04/xbox-one-china]. "This is a historic moment in our partnership as we work toward the first official Xbox launch in China. Xbox One will also be the first system of its kind to launch in China."

"The launch of Xbox One here will bring distinction as the first-ever game console with OTT functionality in China," said Dazhong Zhang, senior vice president, Shanghai Media Group, and chairman, E-Home Entertainment Development Company Ltd. "The launch of Xbox is a milestone for our company in the family entertainment market and will create profit growth opportunities."

Mehdi points out that the possibilities for the as-of-yet-untapped Chinese market are massive, noting that "The culture of games and entertainment is rapidly growing in China, with nearly half a billion people playing games - roughly a third of the country's population and more than the entire population of North America."

It's interesting that Microsoft, an American company, is the first to step up and sell its console in China, considering the fact that territorial disputes between China and Japan have put tensions between the two nations at a high, and both Sony and Nintendo are Japanese companies.

Source: Xbox Wire [http://news.xbox.com/2014/04/xbox-one-china]

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[Boris Goodenough]

I'm sure there's a joke here to be made about certain Xbone mistakes in the past and China's restrictive regime here.

I didn't know Orwellian socities were jokes

 

[FalloutJack]

Turns out, X-Boxes aren't immune to lead poisoning, and they begin to RROD right and left.

(This would be funny except I wonder if something WILL cause mass-RROD-ing in there.)

 

[Atmos Duality]

So, the first console with the potential for all-inclusive content control is the first into China?
That's no coincidence. Their Ministry of Culture loves their censorship powers more than a crackwhore loves white powder.

I'm sure there's a joke here to be made about certain Xbone mistakes in the past and China's restrictive regime here.

I didn't know Orwellian socities were jokes

Scandinavian humour in general can come across as rather depressing to others to put it like that.

I'm of strong Scandinavian ancestry (still an American mutt); Not of culture though, and yet that explains SO MUCH.

 

[J Tyran]

This will either be a massive success for Microsoft or a complete waste of time, if they get traction being the only big player in such a huge potential market will make then huge amounts of cash. Or any number of other things could happen like no-one being interested or the software getting pirated to death[footnote]There are piracy issues in China but how much of that is down to lack of availability and the Chinese governments unwillingness to deal with complaints from business outside China isn't clear, with them easily available and Chinese Jobs on the line within the Free Trade Zone things might be different[/footnote], in those cases the huge efforts they have gone to get the consoles in there (they have a factory in their assembling them to some degree or other) will have to waste the the time, money and effort might as well have gone down the toilet.

 

[kasperbbs]

I had no idea that China had banned consoles, and here i thought that my country was shitty.

Microsoft will either make a huge profit selling their Xbones to a console starved market or noone will give a shit since they simply aren't all that familiar with consoles because they were banned for so long.

 

[gamegod25]

Hear that? That's the sound of an entire country of 1.4 billion not giving a shit.

I'm sure there's a joke here to be made about certain Xbone mistakes in the past and China's restrictive regime here.

China: It's so good to have an iron grip on your people.

MS: I know right?! Let's be BFF!

 

[Boris Goodenough]

I'm sure there's a joke here to be made about certain Xbone mistakes in the past and China's restrictive regime here.

I didn't know Orwellian socities were jokes

Scandinavian humour in general can come across as rather depressing to others to put it like that.

I know I should have used instead, I too am Scandi all too familiar with it.

 

[ExtraDebit]

It'll probably fail, the ones that can afford it don't have time to play and the ones with time can't afford it.

 

[Veylon]

Microsoft will either make a huge profit selling their Xbones to a console starved market or no one will give a shit since they simply aren't all that familiar with consoles because they were banned for so long.

China has the third world version of "banned", which means that everyone's doing it anyway. It's similar to how opium, alcohol, and satellite dishes are banned in Iran. "Banned" is just a label indicating that some bureaucrat with enough authority and wants to unsuccessfully attempt to make a name for himself wants it on the record that he disapproves. Sure, it'll get some bribe money into the pockets of the police, but on a facts-on-the-ground level, it doesn't actually prevent anything. Every Little Emperor in China who wanted a console these past 13 years got one.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

From what I know the majority of the chinese games play on PC. Dota 2 and League of Legends is pretty big there apparently.

Congrats to them for releasing their console in their country, but from what I've seen the type of games that they are planning to ban (pretty much everything aside from the kiddy stuff), I don't see MS getting too many sales from that country.

 

[Rodolphe Kourkenko]

Ok, so they can sell the console... And for the games ? Which ones will pass the ban ?

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Huh, Sony better catch up here. Microsoft's starting to gain some serious ground.