Game Delay: China's Xbox launch scrapped until 'later this year'

First the iPhone delay, and now this; Microsoft has announced that it will be unable to stick to its plan of a 23 September release date for the Xbox One in China. The company did not explain why plans for China's first legal game console have been momentarily shelved, but it has assured customers (many of whom already paid for pre-orders) that consoles will ship before the end of the year.

To ward off the angry fans, Microsoft has promised an unspecified "special gift" for those who already pre-ordered the device, which will market for RMB3,700. Nobody seems to know what caused the delay: the Xbox was supposed to be one of the shining achievements of Shanghai's new Free Trade Zone, as the altered laws within the FTZ had allowed for Microsoft to partner with domestic company BesTV.

There were apparently 100,000 pre-orders placed for the Xbox, and the company had planned to have 5 million at the ready for its big China launch. Maybe next month...