The Xbox One release date has been announced. Where does the release date fit with Sony’s plans for the PlayStation 4?
Xbox One will release in the U.K, U.S.A, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, and Spain on November 22.
The Xbox One’s release date will therefore be a week later than Sony’s PlayStation 4 release date in North America, but a week earlier than the PlayStation 4’s release in Europe. The PlayStation 4 releases on November 15 in North America and November 29 in Europe.
The Xbox One will launch at a price of $499 / €499 / £429 and includes a Kinect as standard. This compares with the PlayStation 4’s lower price point of $399/ €399 / £349, although the PlayStation Move camera is not included, and can be bought separately for just under $60.
Xbox One had a rocky start during its reveal and subsequent showing at E3, with confusion around the console’s always-online nature and Microsoft’s used game policies.
Conflicting information emerged from Microsoft in the weeks after its initial unveiling, but after further outcry from gamers at E3, Microsoft reversed the requirement for the Xbox One to be connected to the Internet once every 24 hours, and also gave gamers the freedom to resell games as they wished. In what would turn out to be Don Mattrick’s final public announcement as a Microsoft employee, a lengthy press release outlined these u-turns.
Microsoft’s recovery may not be enough to win gamers back from Sony’s PlayStation 4, but pre-orders for both consoles have been high.
The next few months will be busy for gamers, as the release schedule for games as well as hardware kicks up a notch after the usual summer lull. This month is packed with highly-anticipated game releases, notably Grand Theft Auto V and Total War: Rome II. Check out a full list of releases here.