Unless you live in the U.S., U.K., France, Canada, or Germany, don't expect to be able to talk to your Xbox One console at launch.
Of the thirteen regions in which the Xbox One will be available at launch, only five will be receiving consoles with built-in Kinect voice commands.
According to a new update on the official Xbox One product page over at Xbox.com, Kinect voice commands will only be available on consoles from the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, and Germany. While the Xbox One is still set to launch in November in Australia, Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, and New Zealand, consoles in those countries will not come with day-one Kinect voice command functionality and voice commands will have to be patched in at a later date.
Considering how much Microsoft was touting voice commands at their Xbox One reveal event and E3 showing, it’s odd that they’d have to suddenly cut it from so many Xbox One regions at launch. While Kinect voice commands may not be the most essential feature of the Xbox One, their absence may be keenly felt by users who were hoping to utilize the console’s various entertainment and social features.
