Xbox One to launch in China this September
Microsoft bringing Xbox to market of "half a billion gamers."
Xbox One will launch in China this September, Microsoft announced. The company will partner with Shanghai-based BesTV to bring the platform to market.
“For the first time ever, Xbox One is coming to China with a full games and entertainment system,” Xbox chief marketing and strategy officer Yusuf Medhi said in the video announcement.
“Here at Microsoft we have been on a mission to build the very best gaming and entertainment experiences for gamers everywhere, and in China there are over half a billion gamers, so the opportunity to create global and locally created content to delight millions and millions of gaming families everywhere is something that we’re really passionate about.”
Commenting on behalf of BesTV, Zhang Dazhong, senior VP of parent company Shanghai Media Group, said the company chose to partner with Microsoft because Xbox One is the “most amazing family friendly entertainment product in the world,” and it believes it “will achieve great success in China.”
Game consoles have been banned in China since 2000, causing an rise in PC gaming. That is, until earlier this year, when China temporarily lifted the ban on the sale of foreign consoles, enabling companies like Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo to potentially sell their hardware in the Chinese market.
The Chinese government would restrict the types of games available on consoles, however, including those promoting “obscenity, drug use, violence or gambling.”
Watch the video announcement below.