[Update] The rumor was true to a point, as Microsoft has indeed announced a delay for the Xbox One in eight of the 21 markets they had originally planned to launch in this year. Thirteen markets will see the Xbox One launch this year, including the United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, France, Brazil, Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, and Spain.
Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, and GameRevolution's arch-nemesis, Belgium will have their Xbox One launch "as soon as possible in 2014".
So while the original rumor wasn't wrong. It's not as worrying as originally thought to be. That is, unless you wanted and Xbox One and are from one of the eight countries that now have to wait until 2014. For you, that really sucks, eh?
[Original Story] This is a big one.
According to GameReactor, one of Europe's largest gaming magazines and a publication that's been around since 1998, claims that a source close to Microsoft has said that the Xbox One will be delayed until Q1 2014. While no specific region was mentioned, we surmise that if there were to happen, as unlikely as that may seem, it would only happen in Europe and the Xbox One would still make a holiday 2013 launch in the US where losing ground to Sony would be much more detrimental to Microsoft's business strategy.
I was reluctant to cover this considering that Major Nelson has done an unboxing, making it appear that the Xbox One is far enough along in production that missing launch would be odd. However, given all of the last-minute policy changes and alterations to the way the hardware is designed to function, it very well could be a possibility. Then there is always the chance of manufacturing or design issues—Microsoft wouldn't want another RROD situation.
It's a rumor, and a very big one at that, so be sure to take this one with an even bigger grain of salt.
