Microsoft is considering launching the Xbox network with limited game content, while major revisions get under way on one of the console's premier online games, Unreal Championship. Microsoft reiterated today that Xbox owners will be able to access network services six months following the console's launch, which puts the actual launch of the Xbox network in April 2002. The company also said that it will follow a similar schedule in Japan, meaning that the Xbox will go online in that territory around late July.

However, GameSpot has learned that the initial launch of the Xbox online network in North America may be a limited one. Industry sources would have us believe that Microsoft will launch its Xbox network with a variety of relatively low-profile puzzle games and limited services in terms of downloadable content. The full range of network services, complete with the release of complex online multiplayer games such as Unreal Championship, won't take place until late next year, perhaps even as late as the holiday season 2002, according to sources.