The Chinese Xbox One has had a very up and down week. First, the launch was on! Then, the console was delayed until some vague point in the future. Then it got a new launch date, less than a week after the original launch date. So now the console is coming on September 29th. But what was the reason for the weird launch delay?
No one knows for sure, but an industry insider who spoke anonymously to Chinese gaming news site Sina Games suggested that it was likely the result of a hiccup in the official approval process. Before the console can be launched, all the games need to be approved by China’s Ministry of Culture, and the console services have to be approved by SAPPRFT. Some miscommunication between Microsoft, BesTV, and these government bureaus about one of these approval processes is what led to the delay, according to Sina’s source.
There’s no real way to confirm that, but it does explain one of the strangest things about the delay: the fact that Microsoft announced the console would release “sometime before the end of the year”, and then just a couple days later announced the launch was coming within the week. The initial vagueness seemed strange, but if Microsoft was waiting on government approval (which can take as much or as little time as the government wants), then its desire to keep things vague until the approval issue had been straightened out makes sense.
It seems like the roadblocks are out of the way now, and the Xbox One really is headed for its China debut next Monday. Whether Chinese gamers actually care is another story, of course. But whatever happens, this may become yet another cautionary tale for foreign game companies looking to do business in China: do not announce a release date until you’re completely sure you’ve got the official approval you need!
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