The Xbox One hasn’t actually done all that well in India, where PlayStation reigns supreme. Unlike the Xbox 360, which made a lot of headway into the market, a series of poor decisions with the Xbox One have led it to struggle in the country.

This has led to a lot of games skipping release on the platform in India—and the latest one took join that list is Fortnite. That one stands as a notable omission, what with it currently being the most popular game in the world. But if you go to the Xbox Store in India, you will find that you can’t download the free to play Fortnite Battle Royale, nor buy Fortnite: Save the World.

Why, exactly, is Fortnite missing on Xbox One in India? Speaking to Gadgets 360, an Epic Games spokesperson confirmed the omission, noting that the reason is the proximity (or lack thereof) of servers for the Xbox version from India, which would lead to a suboptimal gaming experience. Their wording suggested that they might rectify this in the future—but for now, if Indian players want to play the most popular game in the world, Xbox is a bust to them. It’s either PC, PS4, or, if they have an invite, iOS.

Microsoft’s Xbox One isn’t actually doing all that hot in India, where it barely has a presence, thanks to a botched launch, and because of the enduring popularity of Sony’s PS4, but it looks like Microsoft will still be releasing the Xbox One X in the country. The new console is set to launch in India on January 15, 2018 (so a little over ten days from now).

It’s the price that’s a problem here, though- according to the Xbox India website, the Xbox One X will cost ₹44,900, which is an obscene amount that translates to over $700 USD- the Xbox One X costs $500 USD internationally.

On the other hand, the costs are in keeping with the general $100=₹10,000 equivalence we often see, and are probably driven up by the insane import duties on electronics in the country- still, that will hardly come as any comfort to anyone who wanted one, and will probably stifle its sales there.

Blizzard Entertainment’s games – including Diablo, Starcraft, Warcraft, Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone, and of course, Overwatch – will now all be officially available in India, as the company announced a distribution partnership with x-press Interactive.

“We’re pleased to be working with e-xpress Interactive to bring our games to India,” said Gio Hunt, executive vice president of corporate operations at Blizzard Entertainment. “We pour a lot of ourselves into the experiences we create, so it’s important to us to be able to share them with the widest possible audience. We’re excited that this collaboration directly supports that goal and helps us welcome more Indian players into the global Blizzard community.”

Commenting on the partnership, Amit Khemani, Managing Director of e-xpress Interactive software Pvt Ltd, said, “We are thrilled to be working with Blizzard Entertainment. Blizzard’s reputation for creating quality games is widely known in India, and this announcement will bring great joy amongst the Indian gaming community. We highly admire Blizzard’s talent, passion and commitment to create such award-winning games, and we are committed to driving the success of their games in India.”

India is, of course, rapidly becoming a major market for video games, with it being one of the largest gaming markets in Asia currently- it makes sense that more publishers would want an official presence there. e-xpress is actually one of the largest distributors of video games in the country, with tie ups with many other video game publishers for local distribution arrangements, so Blizzard made the right choice in bringing its games to the country, that’s for sure.

The Indian Rupee is in a bit of a freefall, and it looks like Microsoft has decided that that is eating into its profit margins. In a statement released today (via Gadgets 360), Microsoft has confirmed that it is raising the prices of Xbox Live in India- and the raised prices double what people were paying for the service in India until then.

“After carefully evaluating the currency changes within India, and with the understanding that our offerings always provide a balance of service and value for our customers, we will be adjusting the price of our Xbox Live Gold subscriptions,” Microsoft said.

Monthly subscriptions now cost ₹700 instead of ₹350 like they used to; annual subscriptions are ₹3999 rather than ₹2240 from before. While in terms of exchange rates, this brings subscription prices closer to the rest of the world (₹3999 is roughly $60), the fact remains that in terms of currency equivalences, Xbox Live is now grossly overpriced in India- wages in India are far lower than they are in the US, or most of the rest of the world, and they are not rising. In fact, coupled with inflation, this makes Xbox Live’s pricing extremely exorbitant for most people in the country.

On the other hand, PS+ has always cost ₹3999 in India, so maybe Microsoft felt that this was a price that they could get away with in the country.

Pokemon GO launched worldwide earlier this year, and it was a veritable sensation everywhere, including in countries where it wasn’t even officially available. I can personally testify to it being a major thing in India, with even city- and countrywide Pokemon GO ‘walks’ being held, as players all came together to celebrate the nostalgia of their favorite franchise growing up.

There was one small catch, though- Pokemon GO hadn’t officially launched in India. Most people playing in India were playing it on Android (by far the dominant mobile OS in the country), which makes it easy to sideload apps on to your phone even if they are not on the App Store, while iPhone users were generally resorting to making American accounts to get access to the game. Pokemon GO is free to play, and given enough dedication, can be played with no money spent whatsoever- so these methods weren’t preventing anyone from enjoying the game too much.

But all of this doesn’t change the fact that the game wasn’t available in India officially- and now, months after the excitement around the game had begun to subside and die down in the country, it finally is. As of today, Pokemon GO is finally officially available in India, as well as Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh.

So, what took them so long to bring the game to what is potentially one of the biggest market for mobile apps in the world? From the developers’ own mouths, “the Niantic team had to resolve a few administrative challenges before launching in order to ensure we could provide the best experience possible,” Niantic said in a brief blog post.

I wonder what those issues were, but hey- I imagine the game is going to end up doing well in India even though it is launching a bit late. In fact, it might even spark a bit of resurgence in enthusiasm for it. Pokemon GO is available now on iOS and Android devices.

It’s a good thing that Black Friday went global, because that means that customers worldwide can now enjoy discounts and sales on products they may want around this time of the year. And when it comes to video games, Indian retailer Games The Shop are bringing the discounts to Indian gamers around right now.

Among the games that they are offering for a discounted price are Watch Dogs 2 (which you can save INR 350 on), Dishonored 2 (which you can save INR 400 on), Final Fantasy 15 (available to pre-order at a discounted price), and many more, with savings of up to INR 1,500 on some of the best games of this year., including The Division, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.

Of course, do remember that these are all time sensitive deals, so if you want to avail of these lower prices, you should jump on them as soon as you can- for a lot of these games, these prices are more than worth it.

Games The Shop, India’s leading retailer of video game hardware and software, has announced that it will be hosting a midnight launch for the eagerly awaited and anticipated Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. The midnight launch will be held at 11.30pm on May 9, and will be held at all store locations in Mumbai.

Players who have already pre-ordered a copy of Uncharted 4 online will get the chance to attend the midnight launch and simply collect their copies of the game there- to do so, they will have to mail their order details to helpdesk@gamestheshop.com, with the subject “U4 Mid Night Launch,” and mention the location from where they plan to collect their copy in the mail body.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is slated to be the final chapter in Naughty Dog’s Uncharted saga, and the concluding chapter in Nathan Drake’s story. The game is available exclusively on the PS4, and in India,will set you back by ₹3,999.

e-xpress Interactive Software, India’s leading distributor of video game software and accessories, have today announced that Tom Clancy’s The Division: Sleeper Agent Edition is up for pre-ordering in the country. The Sleeper Agent Edition will be available with leading retailers, both online and offline, and nets you quite a few cool bonuses.

These bonus items include a poster, and a high quality artbook. The full list of extra items available with the Special Sleeper Agent Edition is:

• Tom Clancy’s The Division game.
• The Agent Watch Replica: fully functional watch which glows like the in-game SHD watches.
• The Agent Armband, a convenient way to carry your most valuable equipment.
• A high quality art book including concept arts that inspired the game.
• “Save What Remains” Poster
• Exclusive Collector’s Box. Digital Content: Season Pass includes a full year of major expansions and exclusive benefits.

This special edition is priced at INR 11,999 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, while the PC edition is priced at INR 9,999. The Standard Edition of the game is priced at INR 3,499 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, while the PC version will set you back by INR 1,799.

The Division will on March 8, 2016 for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

e-xpress Interactive Software, India’s leading distributor of video game hardware, software, and accessories, as well as the official distributor of 2K Sports’ upcoming WWE 2K16, had announced an added incentive for Indian gamers to pre-order WWE 2K16- fans who have pre-ordered the game or who buy the game post release will get a chance to meet WWE superstar Daniel Bryan on November 3, 2015. They also stand a chance to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Belt Signed by WWE Superstar “Mark Henry.”

This incentive is available for orders across all retailers, both online and offline. Customers who have ordered the game will have to register here.

WWE 2K16 launched in North America on October 27- In India, it launches this Friday, on October 30 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and Xbox 360. The game is priced at ₹ 3,499 for current gen consoles and ₹ 2,499 for old gen consoles. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage and information on the game.

When the Xbox One launched in India last year, it was available exclusively through Amazon- that meant that you couldn’t even walk into a retail store to pick it up from there. You needed to get it from Amazon. That exclusivity ended earlier this year, when Microsoft’s Priority Resellers began selling the system throughout the country. And today, Microsoft has announced that Flipkart, one of India’s biggest online retailers, will also be selling the entire range of Xbox One products starting today.

Commenting on this, Anshu Mor, Director of Interactive Entertainment Business for Microsoft India, said, “Over the last one year, through our partnership with Amazon.in, we have received an overwhelming response from consumers for Xbox One and Xbox 360 in India. Responding to this growing demand, we are now extending the availability of our portfolio to Flipkart. With this move, we are looking to further expand our presence in the market.”

Commenting on the availability of Xbox One and Xbox One accessories on its platform, Adarsh K Menon, Vice President of Electronics for Flipkart, said “Demand for our gaming category is witnessing exponential growth, fuelled by Flipkart’s large youth consumer base. Our partnership with Xbox will further enrich the portfolio and will also add to this experience by tying up with leading gaming publishers across the globe to bring in the latest gaming titles. Xbox will be available on our platform on the midnight of October 15^th, as a part of the Flipkart Big Billion Days promotion.”

The Xbox One is available in India now for INR 34,990.