Xbox One has launched in China, and people seem to actually want it

By Sherif Saed

Following a round of delays and speculations, Microsoft has finally launched Xbox One in China, making it the first console to launch in the country following the revocation of a 14-year old, country-wide console ban.

Despite having no launch party, according to Kotaku, Sunning Electronics, a major Chinese retailer, hosted midnight launches in various major cities.

Fans lined up in front of various store locations, mainly in Beijing and Shanghai, to spend 3,699 yuan ($602) on the Kinect-less version, or 4,299 yuan ($700) on the Kinect version. Microsoft bundled a special edition controller that bears the words “China Day One” with every console.

Here are some pictures from some of the stores.

And here’s a video, courtesy of Kotaku, showing some mainstream news coverage of the launch.

All in all, it seems like the Chinese launch was miles ahead of its Japanese counterpart, which we really don’t need to remind you of. Microsoft didn’t announce any official sales numbers however.

Images courtesy of Sina Weibo, Sunning Sina Weibo, TV Gamer Asia Weibo, Microsoft Xbox Sina Weibo.