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As Microsoft’s Xbox division goes all-in on Xbox Series X production on the lead-up to the console’s holiday 2020 launch window, France has been identified as a high priority for the console’s distribution. That latter point likely won’t catch the attention of anyone outside of Western Europe, but a solid confirmation about how the next-gen console’s production phase is going is always eye-catching.
Support for the Xbox One console line is far from its end, but that’s not stopping Xbox leadership from publicly shifting its gaze from the current generation and squarely focusing upon Xbox Series X. It may have slightly gotten off on the wrong foot with the May 20/20 “gameplay” showcase and owned up to it, but it’s far from giving up on the upcoming phase of its console arms race against Sony despite narratives emerging about the PS5’s supposed superiority. Since that misstep, Xbox Series X gameplay has indeed been shared with the gaming public, and it’s hard to not be impressed with the machine’s considerable power when it’s on display.
A recent reported by French-language site Xboxygen (as rudimentarily run through Google Translate by VG247), the Xbox Series X is already well into its all-important production phase, bringing it one step closer to living rooms around the world. Presumably among other target nations like the US, Canada, and UK, Xboxygen is happy to share that “France is one of the priority countries for the delivery of machines at the end of the year.” This level of optimistic certainty is reassuring for those justifiably fearing a COVID-19-related delay. However, Xbox France director Ina Gelbert told the site that while, “The choice we made on this launch is to be present in more countries than at the launch of the Xbox One,” if there is another major viral outbreak, the Xbox divisions in France or the US “can not [sic] do much” to prevent a delay.
Although it’s unnecessarily cruel (and not exactly prudent from a business perspective) for Microsoft to tease prospective players endlessly with impressive Xbox Series X specs and anecdotes that the machine loads almost too quickly for a boot animation while simultaneously withholding gameplay footage, a quarantine measure-related delay would obviously be far, far more understandable. Hopefully that will not be the case, but, if it does come to pass, players in France and other priority distribution countries will have to simply bear the wait alongside the Xbox team.
It’s not a complete surprise to know that the Xbox Series X is finally in production, but the fact that Microsoft is aiming to expand its day-one worldwide distribution locations is new information that will improve the next-gen console’s launch for everyone. With luck, that widespread global supply will be further enhanced in accessibility by an attractive price point.
