Xbox One Release Date Set For November 22, PS4 Beats It To The Punch

Microsoft announced Wednesday that its next-gen console, the Xbox One, will be released on Nov. 22 in 13 markets, including the U.S., U.K., Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand and Spain.

Microsoft made the announcement in multiple places, including the official Xbox homepage. Check out the photo below.

Larry Hryb, director of programming for Xbox Live, also made the announcement via his official Twitter account. Hryb also wrote a post about the announcement on his official blog.

The Xbox One's Nov. 22 release date tells us two key things: First of all, the PlayStation 4 wins the release date battle and will hit the market a full week before the Xbox One does. The PS4 will be released on Nov. 15.

Despite the fact that the Xbox One will be late to the party, it is still being released a full week before Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year. This year's Black Friday is Nov. 29.

To this point, both the Xbox One and Microsoft overall have taken multiple PR hits over communication gaffes and policy flip-flops. Initially, the Xbox One featured substantial restrictions pertaining to used games and DRM. The PS4, on the other hand, took opposite stances. Those restrictions have since been lifted by Microsoft.

Multiple polls indicated that the public overwhelmingly prefers the PS4 over the Xbox One. Polls have shown that nearly 75 percent of gamers preferred the PS4's DualShock 4 controller over the Xbox One controller. Multiple polls have also stated that the public would still strongly prefer the PS4 even if the Xbox One cost the same ($500) or if the Xbox One's price was lowered to $400.

Will Microsoft's messaging stumbles and the Xbox One's later release date conspire to hurt its sales potential? Only time will tell.

What do you think of the Xbox One's Nov. 22 release date? Does it matter that the PS4 will be released one week earlier on November 15? Why or why not? Sound off in the comments below.