Corroborating earlier rumors, an online retailer from Switzerland has confirmed that the Xbox One launch is being delayed in tier 2 countries even further.
The original rumor claims that Russia, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark, would not be getting the games until the 3rd quarter of 2014. Lacking evidence, the presumed reason for delays was problems with supply or localization.
The corroboration comes from Swiss retailer WOG, who now says that Xbox One will not be coming to Switzerland at least until Easter 2014. Yes, this also means a delay past that timeframe is also possible.
The reasoning given to WOG is apparent adjustments to the Xbox Live Marketplace, which certainly sounds more reasonable than speculation on supply issues.
What may be left out of the conversation here is the intent to make Xbox One an all-in-one entertainment hub. While Microsoft has full control over the games on the platform, they will need to negotiate different contracts to distribute content in different regions, an especially thorny issue when you get down to the nitty gritty of negotiating with different media companies, even more so in different European countries. While you may say that Microsoft can make money off of games anyway, this does not go in line with what the company intends for the console.
So, when Microsoft refers to adjustments to the Marketplace, it might just be another way of saying they are not ready to sell content on the Marketplace for these countries. They may lose out on the ‘console wars’ in the short term, but if you are Microsoft, you won’t care about what fanboys say over what is the best way to maximize the potential income off a new console.
