In the latest issue of Famitsu Weekly, Microsoft representatives have commented that the launch of the Xbox in Korea has gone disastrously wrong.
Since going on sale in December, only 20,000 or so hardware units have been sold, a twentieth of intial launch predictions.
Although distribution issues have been blamed, along with the lack of software available, some analysts believe that the problem lies much deeper.
“There is an ingrained online gaming ethos in Korea, arguably the strongest community in the world,” one market watcher told us. “However, this is not people staying at home playing online, rather groups of players assembling in the country’s many Internet cafe’s around which an entire culture has grown up. The Xbox’s stay-at-home philosophy, combined with the fact that at present, there’s no CounterStrike available, makes it somewhat unappealing to the traditional Korean gamer.”
This news has sparked widespread gossip that Microsoft may make a partial withdrawal from the region, passing all responsibilities to third parties.
Since going on sale in December, only 20,000 or so hardware units have been sold, a twentieth of intial launch predictions.
Although distribution issues have been blamed, along with the lack of software available, some analysts believe that the problem lies much deeper.
“There is an ingrained online gaming ethos in Korea, arguably the strongest community in the world,” one market watcher told us. “However, this is not people staying at home playing online, rather groups of players assembling in the country’s many Internet cafe’s around which an entire culture has grown up. The Xbox’s stay-at-home philosophy, combined with the fact that at present, there’s no CounterStrike available, makes it somewhat unappealing to the traditional Korean gamer.”
This news has sparked widespread gossip that Microsoft may make a partial withdrawal from the region, passing all responsibilities to third parties.
Companies:
Microsoft
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