Xbox One countries

Adding to a long list of game-playing restrictions, a new disclaimer for Microsoft upcoming Xbox One console states that only certain countries can use the next-gen machine at launch. “Xbox One games are for activation and distribution only in specified geographic regions,” states Microsoft in the official disclaimer.

Asian countries are notably missing from the full list of “specified geographic regions”, which looks like this:

  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • Denmark
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Mexico
  • Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • Norway
  • Russia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • United Kingdom
  • United States

The Xbox One won’t hit Asian markets until late 2014. Those from the region looking to get a hold of an imported system well before that are out of luck. Same goes for any other country not colored in green in the map at the top of this article (made by NeoGaf user KukicAdo).

Sony’s PlayStation 4, the Xbox One’s main competitor that’s also launching at the end of this year, has no such restrictions. In fact, the system is region-free, meaning you could play a North American game on a Japanese PlayStation 4 (and vice versa).

Image credit/KukicAdo