Microsoft responds to reports of Xbox exit from Saudi Arabia

In case you haven’t noticed, Xbox isn’t doing very well right now. Between poor Xbox Series X/S sales and stagnant Game Pass subscriber numbers, the company’s only financial saving grace this generation has been through its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which it cost him $75.4 billion to engineer.

We’ve already seen Xbox marketing move away from the console as company executives try to spin excitement toward its next-gen plans, Game Pass, and its push toward cross-platform releases on PlayStation hardware and Nintendo.

In light of Xbox’s changing priorities, a new report has claimed that Microsoft plans to stop selling Xbox consoles in Saudi Arabia, which could mean an exit from the Middle East region entirely.

According to journalist Mohammed Albisimi, CEO of Saudi Arabian gaming website TrueGaming, Microsoft has “officially informed” major retailers that it will soon stop selling Xbox consoles in the country.

The reporter claims that Microsoft declined to make a statement when asked “a few weeks ago,” but one has now come out via Windows Central.

In response to the reports, Xbox head of consumer sales Ami Silverman said: “Xbox devices are available in all countries currently supported by Xbox hardware, including Saudi Arabia. Console availability may vary by country, but Xbox games can be played on consoles, PCs, and phones, tablets, or TVs where Xbox Cloud Gaming is available.

Although some have taken it as a rebuttal, the statement does not deny anything about Albisimi’s report. Crucially, it does not directly address the claims surrounding the retailers, suggesting the company is trying to sidestep the issue.

Windows Central reporter Jez Corden has since claimed he has other sources who have denied that Xbox is pulling out of the region, but The Verge’s Tom Warren and Albisimi have pointed out the statement’s vague wording.

Warren has suggested that Xbox may now prioritize other regions in terms of its hardware stock. “It doesn’t mean that Xbox consoles aren’t available in Saudi Arabia, just that they are selling so low that stocks won’t be replenished once they run out,” he speculated on Twitter.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard that Microsoft might change priorities in certain regions. Albisimi claimed last month that the company is considering stopping selling Xbox consoles in the Middle East in general, including its rumored new hardware.

In May, a report on The Verge suggested that Microsoft planned to stop selling Xbox Series X/S consoles in certain markets due to low sales, specifically in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and “will allocate less console stock “. in these territories as a consequence. Microsoft has never commented on these reports.

While it remains to be seen whether this will affect the launch of future Xbox consoles, it certainly seems as though Microsoft is pulling back from some territories, where it has traditionally performed poorly.

Whether this is the leading edge of a general retreat from the hardware business is too early to say, but even if it is, the timescale is likely to be considerable.