Microsoft has announced that it will release the Xbox One on November 22, leaving gamers wondering if it planned its one-week head-start over Sony's release of the Playstation 4.

Sony announced last month at the Gamescom convention in Germany that it would release the PS4 on November 29 - Microsoft had not announced the release date of its own next-generation console at that time.

Following Sony's announcement, pressure mounted on Microsoft to announce the release date of the Xbox One.

EA's COO Peter Moore even stated that Microsoft needs to "cough up" the Xbox One's release date, VG24/7 reports.

Speaking with GI.biz, Moore discussed the fact that competing formats have never released so close before, VG24/7 also reports.

Japanese gaming site Kotaku announced last month that the Xbox One would have a release date of November 8.

"Yesterday, we heard from a source at a marketing company who had seen documentation pencilling the Xbox One in for a tentative, unconfirmed November 8 launch. Today, a source close to Microsoft tells us that's not the case," the website wrote.

"The source says to expect the console at a date later than November 8, though obviously still in the month of November, as that's the release window Microsoft has promised for some time."