Is Microsoft finally going to launch Xbox consoles in Malaysia?

The Xbox console will celebrate its 23rd anniversary this year. Unlike its rivals Sony and Nintendo, Microsoft has never officially released any of the Xbox consoles in Malaysia but there has been a new development that seems to indicate this may change this year.

SIRIM has certified Xbox Series X last month

While this sounds a little bit ironic, the genesis of this story took place in Indonesia. X user, @mfosa relayed a tweet from a fellow Indonesian gamer @_mannthea who pointed out that the Xbox Series X and Series S were certified by the Indonesian government last month.

Naturally, I dived into the SIRIM database to have a quick check and found that the Xbox Series X has made its way into the database last month as well. It was listed under Microsoft’s long-time distributor in Malaysia, Ingram Micro.

How about the Xbox Series S? Well, here’s where things get a little bit more interesting.

Xbox Series S has received approval from SIRIM…way back in 2020

As it turns out, the lower-end Xbox Series S has been certified by SIRIM much earlier. By earlier, I mean four years ago:

It is indeed baffling to see these listings. Of course, being listed in SIRIM’s database doesn’t guarantee that the device will be released into the market.

Then again, why would Microsoft or Ingram Micro go through all the trouble to put these Xbox consoles under SIRIM’s scrutiny if you have no intention of making them available to Malaysian consumers?

No, Xbox consoles were never officially released in Malaysia

Some might be wondering: “Xbox consoles are not officially here in Malaysia? But I always see them at [insert your favourite game store here],”.

The answer is no, Xbox consoles were never officially released in Malaysia. Those units that you saw at local games shops were imported and they usually were Singaporean units.

This is because Singapore is the only official market for Xbox consoles in Southeast Asia and this status quo was maintained since Xbox 360 debuted there in March 2006.  While Microsoft apparently have a plan to release Xbox 360 in the Philippines, it didn’t come to fruition based on this report by local tech blogger Alexei Rivera.

This is opposed to Sony PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch consoles which have official support from their makers. In fact, Sony PlayStation consoles have been officially available in Malaysia since 1996.

Xbox does have some presence in Malaysia

To be fair to Microsoft though, it has established some presence for Xbox in Malaysia even though the company didn’t release the consoles into our market.

PC Game Pass was introduced in our market last March on a trial basis before making its official debut a month later. While there’s no Xbox name attached to the PC Game Pass, the branding still has the Xbox logo on it and is referred to as an Xbox service on its official website.

A few months later, Microsoft has also officially released the Xbox Wireless Controller in Malaysia. It is currently available for RM319 except for selected colourways such as Shock Blue, Pulse Red, and Electric Volt which are priced slightly higher at RM339.

In addition to that, the Xbox division is fully supportive of game developers in Malaysia. For one, Xbox was the sponsor of the Indie Zone at Level Up Kuala Lumpur last year and Jun Shen Chia, the Incubator Manager for Xbox Global Expansion for Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, has noted that Team Xbox is certainly looking forward to keep momentum going in 2024.

Will Steve Ballmer’s promise finally come true in 2024?

When Microsoft’s then-CEO Steve Ballmer came to Malaysia in May 2010 to launch the company’s cloud computing service, he made a rather cheeky remark regarding the prospect of Xbox’s official release in Malaysia during an interview with The Star’s now-defunct technology section, In.Tech.

The original article has since long gone from the face of the web but fortunately, someone was sharp enough to preserve that remark 14 years ago in Lowyat.NET Forums:

Microsoft chief executive officer Steve Ballmer was here to promote the software giant’s venture into cloud computing but the biggest question in our minds was if the Xbox will ever be released here.

This is what he had to say:

In.Tech: Will Microsoft ever release the Xbox in Malaysia?

Ballmer: Yes, but I’m not going to say when (laughs).

In our lifetime?

(Laughs again.) Yes. In my working lifetime, yes.

Given the occasion at that time as well as his position, the remark was probably just lip service. While he might no longer be with Microsoft, he still owns around 4% of the company’s stocks which entitled him to dividends that are currently valued at around USD1 billion (~RM 4.73 billion).

Last time I checked, Steve is still quite healthy and busy being not only the owner of the NBA team Los Angeles Clippers, but also the 6th richest person in the world. So, let’s see whether that “promise” will become a reality this year.