Xbox One Voice Functionality Will Work For Australians (With One Caveat…)

So this is a little bizarre. We were under the impression that voice functionality the Xbox One would not be available in Australia at launch, but a report from IGN stated that Australia was on the list.

We called Microsoft locally to confirm precisely what’s going on, and a local representative confirmed that, yes, voice functionality would “absolutely” be available in Australia on launch day, with one tiny exception.

The phrase ‘Xbox On’ will not work in Australia on launch day. Literally everything else will work just fine. For some reason the ‘Xbox On’ command is only available in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France and German.

So good news! But also bizarre news! It’s so strange that only one simple phrase has been eliminated from select regions. Is it the way Australians say ‘on’? I’m sitting here trying to say the word ‘on’ in my best Australian accent and I can’t for the life of me see what the problem is!

Still, it’s great that voice functionality will be available here in Australia on day one.