One Thousand and One Microsoft Nights

ALKHOBAR, 3 July 2007 — Once upon a nanosecond, headquartered in a land far, far away from Saudi Arabia, there was a company named Microsoft. Nearly two years ago, Microsoft released the gaming console it called the Xbox 360. Despite considerable interest in the product from young Arab gamers, at that time Microsoft decided not to bring the Xbox 360 to the Middle East. The reason for this was never made clear by the software giant. One would think that such a product would be a huge hit in a geography where the demographic is 50 percent of the population under 18 years of age. Microsoft has long claimed to have a strong commitment to the region, nevertheless, the Xbox 360 was never officially distributed in the Middle East and Sony’s PlayStation continued to dominate the local gaming community.

Now of course it should be noted, that although Microsoft never cared to bring the Xbox 360 to Saudi Arabia, numerous vendors operating on the gray market were only too happy to serve the Kingdom’s gamers — in their own way. Within days of the console’s North American launch back in November 2005, Xbox 360s began popping up in Saudi gaming shops at inflated prices and without warranties or customer support. Nothing was done to stop this practice and it continues to this day.

Once local gamers saw that Microsoft put forward no plans to officially distribute the Xbox 360 in the Middle East, some individuals caved in to the gray market shysters and bought the console in the Kingdom. Others waited, and purchased the machine while on vacation abroad. Today, anybody in Saudi Arabia who desperately wanted an Xbox 360 already has the console, and games for the machine are readily available, imported mostly from the US.

But remember that real life never makes as much sense as the stories of 1001 Nights, which is why, with much fanfare, Microsoft has put out the following press release:

“Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, June 20, 2007 — Microsoft today announced that the highly-anticipated Xbox 360, the videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft, has officially launched in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

“Now that Xbox 360 has arrived, customers in the Kingdom will be able to enjoy next-generation gaming and entertainment experiences with the Xbox 360 Pro system, which includes a 20GB hard drive and wireless controller and headset for an estimated retail price of SR1,899.

“‘The launch of Xbox 360 in KSA is undoubtedly a critical milestone in our Middle East expansion plans,’ said Armagan Demir, Head of Entertainment & Devices Division Middle East for Microsoft. ‘Gamers in the Kingdom will not only have easy access to high-definition graphics, more than 100 great high-definition games, sophisticated next-generation gameplay, and gripping digital entertainment features of the Xbox 360 but also technical support, a comprehensive replacement warranty, gaming events and community specially tailored to them.’

“As of today, major local retailers with gaming sections will have the Xbox 360 available for sale, supported by the replacement warranty and a wide range of accessories. For customer support call toll free on 800-844-3784.”

Since Microsoft has been a key proponent in the global growth of the Internet, one would think that they would understand that gamers in the Kingdom have long been aware of the existence of the Xbox 360. Yet Microsoft’s press release makes it sound as if this console has never been experienced by Saudi gamers or seen in the Saudi market. In their press release there was no explanation, apology or even acknowledgment that the Xbox 360 launch in the Kingdom is long overdue. The press release also didn’t really make clear the benefit of Microsoft’s official distributor starting up in Saudi Arabia so late in the life of this gaming console.

Enthusiastic gamers who already purchased the Xbox 360 on the gray market in the last year and a half won’t be getting warranties. Small gaming shops which have already set up channels on their own to get the console and games into the Kingdom will now be undersold. Arab News has found that the official distributor for the Xbox is “Pluto DG.” Microsoft hasn’t put out any information about this distributor and their service locations appear to be a secret. It also isn’t known whether Pluto DG will provide service for gray market consoles or Xbox 360s purchased abroad.

In an effort to learn more about where to purchase and get service for the Xbox 360 in the Kingdom, Arab News phoned the customer service number mentioned in Microsoft’s press release. After waiting on hold for 16 minutes, a customer service rep came on the line. She didn’t know anything about the Xbox 360 retailers, service or support in Saudi Arabia. Eventually she suggested that having a look at the site www.xbox.com/en-ae would be helpful.

It wasn’t. The site focuses only on the UAE market — even though the Saudi market is the largest in the Middle East. A support website for the console, www.xbox.com/support, provides no support information in Arabic — although there is support information in Mandarin, Cantonese, French, Korean, Spanish and other languages besides English.

The lack of Arabic is a concern because Arabic is a tier one language for key software solutions created by Microsoft. This means that the company produces Arabic releases of its key software products for distribution at the same time as the English versions. That nearly two years after the launch of the Xbox 360, no Arabic website is available to support it, shows that Microsoft’s commitment to the region may be based more on convenience rather than real policy and it doesn’t bode well for the availability of future Microsoft hardware products in the Middle East.

Why is Microsoft launching the Xbox 360 in Saudi Arabia at this time? With no official explanation from the company, it must be theorized that they finally have sold so many consoles in places such as the US and Europe that they are reaching levels of saturation there. Microsoft now needs to find new markets for their wares to keep those Xbox factories humming. The PlayStation 3 retails at a higher price than the Xbox 360 in the Kingdom, so Microsoft can only hope to steal some market share from Sony. Will gamers now rush out and enthusiastically put down their cash for Microsoft’s two-year-old console and games? Stay tuned. That’s a story for another Microsoft night.