Xbox One voice control will only work in 5 countries at launch

If you’ve been waiting to carry on a conversation with your Xbox One, you had better hope you live in the right geographic area. Microsoft has made it known that voice commands will only work on the Xbox One in five countries at launch in November: the US, UK, Canada, France, and Germany. Anywhere else, and you’re going to be waiting for an indeterminate period of time.

Microsoft slipped the disclaimer into the fine print on the Xbox FAQ page. This leaves out a lot of other countries that are getting the console on day one, specifically Australia, Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain and New Zealand. Microsoft’s tiny disclaimer doesn’t explain why the limited launch of voice interaction is necessary, but it might be related to the voice localization issues that previously resulted in delays for eight other European countries. Although, it could also be server load or production volume related.

The Xbox One will support a number of commands more advanced than the ones enabled by Kinect on the 360. You’ll be able to turn the console on and off, control your TV or cable box, and even place Skype calls via Kinect with only your voice.

This is yet another stumble for the Xbox One, which was retooled after a wave of complaints following its announcement. While the console is no longer DRM-laden or geo-fenced, its release has been pared back several times now. The European countries with completely delayed launches are supposed to receive the console in early 2014, so maybe that’s when everyone will be able to pretend their Xbox One is HAL 9000.