Source: Wikimedia Commons

Video game enthusiasts in Costa Rica and around the world have waited for two major events in 2013. One of those events recently took place: The release of Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto V, which managed to pull $1 billion in sales in less than a week. The other event is the forthcoming: The release of the long-awaited Xbox One console by Microsoft, which might end up not working properly in Costa Rica.

The video game industry produces nearly $100 billion dollars in revenues each year, and Microsoft is a behemoth in this regard. The company’s Xbox consoles are magnificent hardware creations that can run incredible games, and they are very popular in Costa Rica and around the world. Microsoft’s main competitor in this arena is Sony and its PlayStation consoles, which are known as “El Play” in Costa Rica.

Microsoft and Sony are due to begin selling their respective long-awaited consoles, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 (PS4), in November. Early reports on the PS4 indicate that gamers in Costa Rica will have no problems booting up their consoles or playing games online against fellow video game enthusiasts around the world. As confirmed by blogger Herberth Castro of La Nacion, Sony has confirmed that Costa Rica is one of the Latin American countries where the PS4 and its PlayStation Network online services will be available. The same can’t be said about Microsoft’s Xbox One console.

Preliminary reports on the Xbox One as it relates to our country reveal that Microsoft has, once again, snubbed Costa Rica. As it stands, those who purchase Xbox One consoles will be required to activate them with a one-time connection to the Xbox LIVE network in order to work. These consoles will also impose certain restrictions pertaining to playing used games.

Microsoft’s snub starts with Xbox LIVE, which is not available to gamers here. The Costa Rica Star has previously reported on this issue as well as the efforts by Tico gamers to reach out to Microsoft and correct this issue:

Gamers in Costa Rica must resort to a series of workarounds to access the Xbox LIVE network. Some of these circumventing methods involve using proxies, Virtual Private Networks (VPN), foreign bank accounts and credit cards, etc. The Costa Rica Star has previously written about the use of proxies, but in the case of Xbox LIVE it could be considered a violation of their Terms of Use.

A more nefarious workaround involves the use of “flashed” video game consoles and pirated video games. Flashing an Xbox 360 console can be a risky affair that nullifies the manufacturers’ warranty, and pirated games are not guaranteed to play properly anyway.

Microsoft has already released the list of countries where the Xbox One will work, and it reads like a list of G20 or OECD industrialized countries. Costa Rica has been snubbed once again, along with most of Latin America. Brazil and Mexico are on the list, but what happened to Argentina, Colombia and Chile? They are part of the Xbox LIVE network for the current Xbox 360 console, but they got snubbed on the Xbox One.

Gamers in Costa Rica tend to be very social and enjoy playing multiplayer titles, and thus they cut corners and go the distance to join the Xbox LIVE network that Microsoft does not want them to play on. Will the caveat of one-time activation crush the hopes of gamers of Costa Rica? A resourceful few will find workarounds anyway, but the restrictions -particularly those on used games- are sure to leave a bad impression on many others.

The problem with Microsoft’s snubbing Costa Rica is twofold: Not only is the company leaving money on the table -after all, Xbox LIVE costs money and sells stuff that gamers are deeply interested in; but, there’s also the issue of piracy.

The main reason Microsoft has traditionally snubbed Costa Rica is because it considers the country to be a haven of piracy and “flashed” consoles (hacked and modified to work in Costa Rica without restrictions). By snubbing the country and placing restrictions, Microsoft is actually bound to see even more flashing of consoles and piracy of video games., which is what usually happens when a product in high demand is not made available in a certain region.