On Thursday night, Sony will be hosting two PS4 launch parties with one taking place in New York City and the other in San Francisco. A week later, Microsoft will be holding its own launch parties, but its sights are set on more than just North America.
With the Xbox One launching in more than just North America on November 22, Microsoft announced today that it will host a number of launch parties all over the world on Thursday night. The big parties are set to take place in the U.S., but you’ll see “marquee global launch events” in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Australia and Brazil.
“Today we invite millions of Xbox fans around the world to join us for the launch of Xbox One, beginning on Nov. 21 as we count down the final hours to the launch of Xbox One,” said Yusuf Mehdi, Corporate Vice President of Marketing and Strategy. “Xbox One will be the biggest launch in the history of Xbox and we can’t wait to celebrate with our fans.”
So, what about those big launch parties in the U.S.? Microsoft will be holding parties in both New York City and Los Angeles on the night of November 21. In New York City, the first 1,000 fans to pick up an Xbox One at the Best Buy Theater on Times Square will be treated to a Macklemore and Ryan Lewis concert. In Los Angeles, the first 500 to purchase an Xbox One will be treated to a Deadmau5 concert.
Before the above events take place, however, Microsoft will be holding the very first launch party in Auckland, New Zealand. At this event – dubbed Midnight Madness – EB Games and Microsoft have teamed up to deliver a party with live music, DJ sets and the chance to win an Xbox One.
Outside of the official events, Microsoft says that its retail partners will be holding launch events of their own all over the world on the night of November 21. The Microsoft Store will also be getting in on the action, and you can learn more about those events here.
Despite some troubling rumors from earlier this year, it looks like the Xbox One is going to launch in style and abundance. Nailing a console launch in just one country is hard enough, but it looks like Microsoft will be just fine as it launches its newest console simultaneously across North America, South America, Australia and Western Europe.
[Image: xbox/YouTube]