Xbox One will launch in Asia in late 2014

Microsoft's upcoming Xbox One will not see a release in Asia later this year alongside the U.S. and European releases. Instead, Asian territories will have to wait until late 2014 to get their hands on the console. This is as part of a "staged approach," according to Alan Bowman, Microsoft's regional vice president for sales and marketing in Asia. In particular, the company is said to be working on localized content for the region, while also dramatically reducing the room that the Kinect motion sensor requires, to match the potentially smaller living spaces across cities like Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong. "We listened to the feedback, not everyone in Asia has living rooms," Bowman told the Wall Street Journal. "The field of vision required for Kinect is much smaller." Bowman also said that the Xbox One will only launch in select Asian markets -- namely Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and India. Notably, a Japanese release date was not mentioned, although Bowman discussed working with Japanese publishers. Gamasutra has contacted Microsoft for clarification on this point. Update: Microsoft refused to specifically comment on the Japanese release of the Xbox One, telling Gamasutra, "In the coming year Xbox One will continue to roll out around the world. Stay tuned for details about future markets and timings."