Today, Microsoft’s Xbox One officially goes on sale in China as the first game console that is legally available to Chinese gamers after a 14-year ban on such products. It will be offered in more than 4,000 retail outlets of chain store partners like Suning and Gome across 37 cities in China. In addition, Chinese e-commerce site JD is also taking orders from Xbox fans.
Xbox One is sold for 4,299 yuan (around US$699) with Kinect and 3,699 yuan without Kinect. However, only 10 games were released in China, despite that there’s already hundreds of games available for the product. Here’s a list of the 10 games:
Exclusive titles from Microsoft Studios: Forza Motorsport 5, Kinect Sports Rivals, Powerstar Golf, Zoo Tycoon, and Max: The Curse of Brotherhood.
Games from the world’s leading developers: Dance Central: Spotlight (Harmonix), Trials Fusion (Ubisoft), Rayman Legends (Ubisoft).
Premium content from Chinese developers: Neverwinter Online (Perfect World), Naughty Kitties (Coconut Island Studio).
According to the company, the Xbox One games portfolio will continue to grow beyond launch with titles like Sunset Overdrive and Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Twelve of the world’s largest developers including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft and 2K are working to bring their gaming favorites to China. Domestic game developers including Gamebar, Yingpei Games, Snail Games, NetEase and Tencent are already working to bring new IP and fan-favorite games to Xbox One.
In addition to games, Xbox One will include a suite of services like Skype, GameDVR and is expected to integrate new entertainment experiences like video contents from BesTV, music, karaoke, fitness, among others.
The launch of Xbox One in Chinese market is just a beginning. The company is going to face tough competition here due to existence of gray market, people’s habits to play games on smartphones rather than game consoles, as well as the entrance of other rivals from home and abroad.
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