Microsoft could be pulling its consoles from some countries

As the sales of Xbox Series X|S continue to collapse, it’s beginning to look like PS5 may have a free run at some markets as Microsoft effectively exits them.

While it’s still an evolving story with many mixed messages, it sounds like the Redmond firm will cease shipping consoles to Saudi Arabia, giving PlayStation a free run at the market. Earlier this year, the Japanese giant announced the MENA Hero Project, to help support game developers in the Middle East and North Africa.

This story has been rumbling for a little while, but earlier in the week local journalist Mohammed Albisimi wrote on X (or Twitter) that “Microsoft has officially informed stores in Saudi Arabia it will stop selling Xbox devices”. He said he’d contacted the company for comment and they’d refused to share a statement, hypothesising if it wasn’t true it would have “easily denied it”.

Windows Central reporter Jez Corden quickly chased the story and published a response from Xbox Chief Consumer Sales Officer Ami Silverman. In it, she said: “Xbox devices are available in all current Xbox hardware-supported countries, including Saudi Arabia.”

Many pointed out this wasn’t an outright denial, and Microsoft has actually opted not to ship its latest hardware models to the region, suggesting that, while the country still has existing inventory of the console for sale, it may not be getting any more. Of course, this could just be a stock management exercise – especially if the console isn’t selling particularly well in the country.