Xbox One 2013 Launch Countries Dwindles To 13

There was a rumor this morning that was first reported on by Gamereactor that the Xbox One was to be delayed in certain EU countries, putting the console launch into Q1 2014. They believed in their source, but it seemed too bad to be true to report on before some substantive evidence came forward to support or go against this rumor.

However, Microsoft confirmed on their own website  today that the company has had to reduce the amount of countries that will receive the Xbox One in 2013. The bold emphasis is mine to focus on the countries involved.

"…We have adjusted the number of markets that will receive Xbox One in November to 13 markets, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand, in November.We remain committed to launching Xbox One in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, as soon as possible in 2014."

This is terrible news for Microsoft, as they have been on the slow incline in public relations since their May 21st Xbox One reveal conference. Getting rid of the always-online requirements and the used games policies were just some of the steps it was taking to getting back some of the console’s detractors, and the fact that Kinect is no longer mandatory to the console to work has people reacting more positively than negatively.

The problem might be even worse than one had originally thought. There is a Microsoft insider that posts on the forum NeoGAF, a place where game developers, publishers, media, PR people and fans alike come together to talk about the gaming news. This insider, commonly referred to as “CBOAT,” has been sporadically leaking information on the site in garbled text (to avoid leak searching) for years. He even posted many E3 reveals the days leading up to the conference itself. He has been proven trustworthy over time. Update: List of what CBOAT correctly predicted before it happened.

Why is he important to this story? Back in June there was a rumor going around that the Xbox One was having eSRAM yield problems, which would result in an underclocking of the system’s GPU and potential problems shipping out a larger amount of consoles. CBOAT then confirmed the rumor to be true, saying that Microsoft rushed the system’s development in order to keep up with the reveal of the PlayStation 4.

Today, CBOAT came back to remind everyone of his prediction, and that more is to come next week. Just like with every rumor involved, take this revelation with a grain of salt. However, he has been right time and time again, plus the news that 38% of the original launch countries have been delayed Xbox One access until 2014 does not bode well for the company. Is more bad news on the horizon?