Microsoft: 'We plan to take care of customers' with faulty Xbox Ones (update)

Some new Xbox One owners are reporting that their launch consoles are faulty, with Blu-ray disc drives that emit grinding, crunching and clicking sounds and — more importantly — won't play disc-based games. In a statement provided to Polygon, Microsoft says it plans to take care of customers affected by hardware launch problems.

While the company doesn't offer a fix or immediate solution to those hardware problems, it urges new Xbox One owners experiencing issues to get in touch with the company for help.

A statement from a Microsoft spokesperson follows.

"We know that with a hardware launch of this magnitude customers will have questions and we have many avenues for customers to get the answers they need and get back in the game as soon as possible. Rest assured we plan to take care of our customers."

"Any customer who believes they are experiencing an issue with their Xbox One should reach out to us. There are many avenues available for customers to get in touch with us including:

• Talking to a live customer support person that can call you back if you don't want to wait
• Xbox.com for support pages and forums
• On Twitter with @XboxSupport
• There are also Help and diagnostics on the console by saying ‘Xbox Help'"

Microsoft launched its Xbox One today in North America, Australia and in parts of Europe and South America. It's not yet clear what percentage of launch units are having hardware failures, a problem that plagued the original design of the Xbox 360.

Update: Microsoft issued a follow-up statement saying, "The issue is affecting a very small number of Xbox One customers. We're working directly with those affected to get a replacement console to them as soon as possible through our advance exchange program. Rest assured, we are taking care of our customers."

Through Microsoft's advance exchange program, "Customers have the option for us to send a replacement console right away without waiting until they have returned their old one. This means a customer only has to wait a matter of days, rather than weeks to get back up and running."