XBL Spreading to New Markets

Microsoft has announced that, as of November 10, its Xbox Live service will be available in nine new markets—Russia, Poland, South Africa, Greece, Czech Republic, Hungary, Brazil, Colombia, and Chile.

Xbox Live users in those regions most likely have an account already, just set in a different region. MS will allow migrating users to keep their profile, gamerscore, achievements, points balance and subscription time, but warns that previously purchased or downloaded content “will not be downloadable again after migration at this point in time, so remember to save your purchased content to your hard drive or a USB flash drive.”

An article on LazyGamer outlines the pros and cons of Xbox Live finally coming to South Africa, expressing concern over no longer being able to download previous purchases tied to an account (though the piece claims that MS is “actively working to get around that restriction") and pricing. 12 months of Xbox Live Gold service will set back South Africans R599 (approximately $88.13 U.S.). The Gold subscription is priced at $49.99 per year in the U.S.

Still, the site managed to see the positive, writing, “Still, there’s no reason to dwell on the negative. We finally have Xbox Live – and that’s something to shout about.”