ZERO TOLERANCE: Policy on Supporting 1st Party Xbox Games FEBRUARY 6, 2009 TRAINING ALERT Target Audience All Xbox Support Agents Introduction This Training Alert is specific to incorrect referral of game issues to game developers and manufacturers. What’s Important Microsoft has received several complaints from our game partners about calls being incorrectly routed to them when the issue should have been resolved by a Microsoft support agent at one of our call centers. This has grown from an annoyance to seriously affecting Microsoft's ability to successfully partner with certain game manufacturers. To respond to this, Microsoft is requesting all call centers to implement a zero tolerance policy on incorrect referrals of Games issues. These must stay within the Microsoft support umbrella through escalations as needed within the call center and on to Microsoft if necessary. Under no circumstances should any T1 support agent, T2 support staff, or supervisor refer a customer with an Xbox game issue back to the game manufacturer, or other external party. If there is any question, escalate the ticket to Microsoft. Please also use the appropriate article First-party game titles include , but are not limited to , the following examples: outlining support • Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts boundaries and • Fable II definition of 1 st party • Gears of War 2 games. • Halo 3 • Lips VKB Articles: • Scene It? Box Office Smash • Viva Pinata: Trouble In Paradise #910587 First-party game developers include , but are not limited to, the following #917504 examples: • Bungie Studios #910582 • Bizarre Creations • FASA Studios • Rare Studios • Lionhead Studios Again, due to the seriousness of this issue, if any agent fails to adhere to this policy, Microsoft will request that they be permanently removed from the Microsoft account per our policies for other detrimental kinds of actions. Failure to adhere to this policy will result in severe disciplinary actions. When is it Effective Immediately. Who is Affected Those customers who are experiencing game issues. References VKB Article: Description of the support boundaries for first-party Xbox game products (917504) Message Center Posting: Policy on supporting 1st Party Xbox games Last Updated: 01/30/2009 09:13 PM UTC CODE: DNTRFR .