Xbox One might not work work in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe

Statements on Microsoft's website suggest the console will be region locked until 'late 2014'

The Xbox One is shown with its controller (right) and a Kinect bar (left) (Reuters)

Fresh controversy has emerged for Microsoft’s eighth-generation console, as disclaimers on the official website suggest that the Xbox One will not work in “un-supported” countries.

A post on the Xbox website warned users that “Xbox One games are for activation and distribution only in specified geographic regions”, offering a list of countries where the console is supported (see below).

This message has been supported by tweets from Xbox’s official Support accounts on Twitter. The @XboxSupport account confirmed that “The Xbox One will only be available in the 21 launch countries” and users from these countries (including Poland, India, Japan and many others) will have to “wait until the console is available in their region.”

Regions excluded from the current launch include the whole of Africa and Asia, as well as the majority of Eastern Europe. Sources suggest that more countries should be included for the Xbox by “late 2014”.

For those that had hoped to travel with their Xbox the advice from Microsoft was ‘take and Xbox 360’.

The full list of Xbox One supported countries is as follows:

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