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Xbox wants Japan, but so far it’s an unrequited love (The Washington Post)

ParaSeoul

Member
imrs.php

Xbox only sold 2.3 million consoles in Japan in 20 years. But it wants to do better. Xbox VP of gaming ecosystem Sarah Bond explains how the company plans to win gamers over with more Japanese titles.
https://t.co/dPpPAbVTub

U.S. video game console maker Xbox has never made its mark on Japan in terms of sales, but after two decades and several missteps, it has no plans to give up.
Last week, Xbox shared news on upcoming games at the Tokyo Game Show, and said that more Asian titles would be added to its subscription service Game Pass over the next year. It announced that “Deathloop,” which was a timed PlayStation exclusive, is available for Xbox as of Sept. 20.

Bond said Xbox is betting the company’s investment in a slate of Asian titles will pay off and show Xbox is more than just Halo and Forza. Typically, Asian players have preferred to buy PlayStation and Nintendo devices, where they can find more Japanese role-playing games and narrative-based games.

Bond said there are over 250 developers in Japan building over 150 games to date, including titles like “Tetris Effect: Connected” and “Craftopia.” Those titles will get to live on the Xbox platform, even if many are not exclusives. During the Tokyo Game Show, Xbox announced that preexisting PlayStation mainstay titles like “Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony Anniversary Edition” and “Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch” are now available on Game Pass. It has plans to bring “Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes” and several Persona titles to Game Pass over the next year.

“While Xbox Series devices are not predicted to sell anywhere near the level of Sony’s PS5 over the coming years, Microsoft is now more competitive than it has been for at least a decade [in Japan],” said Piers Harding-Rolls, an analyst at Ampere Analysis. “That shows that Microsoft’s approach to the market is paying dividends.”


 
Foreign brands do very well in Japan if they are marketed as exotic or a symbol of luxury and class.

In that tradition Phil should actually raise the price of the Xbox Series X, cancel the Series S and do collaborations with LV, Prada, and Gucci.
 

LordCBH

Member
Foreign brands do very well in Japan if they are marketed as exotic or a symbol of luxury and class.

In that tradition Phil should actually raise the price of the Xbox Series X, cancel the Series S and do collaborations with LV, Prada, and Gucci.

Waiting on the Lamborghini themed Series X
 

Gone

Banned
Microsoft would be better off focusing on Europe and the Middle East.

I just don't get why they're trying that much with Japan.
 
I'm glad they're trying. They have a more competitive product on paper. You would think a Series S would be in consideration at least for many, with the low entry price and small form factor, and wider availability. But they have a their work cut out for them. The more they try, the better for everyone globally who wants more of these games on the system.

Foreign brands do very well in Japan if they are marketed as exotic or a symbol of luxury and class.

In that tradition Phil should actually raise the price of the Xbox Series X, cancel the Series S and do collaborations with LV, Prada, and Gucci.
Sure Jim.

Microsoft would be better off focusing on Europe and the Middle East.

I just don't get why they're trying that much with Japan.
Because so many great games are made there.
 
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64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Make more AAA games and be more competitive when it comes to Japanese exclusive deals, and market the ever loving fuck outta gamepass and xcloud in Japan. Instant sales and more brand awareness.
 

Wildebeest

Member
Is xbox going to be rebranded as a mobile phone that plays awful gatcha games? If not, then why pretend you are seriously going after the Japanese market.
 
I think you overlooked something that would go on the paper for gaming consoles. Specifically, the games.
That's kind of the whole point of the article. It's a chicken and egg question. You have to have a system that's somewhat interesting to get the games. Then when you get the games, the system is more interesting. They're clearly trying, but it's going to be an uphill climb.
 

Saber

Gold Member
This makes sense to me. You wouldn't believe the amount of hate japan games in general receive from their fanbase, specially the jrpgs.
 

NickFire

Member
That's kind of the whole point of the article. It's a chicken and egg question. You have to have a system that's somewhat interesting to get the games. Then when you get the games, the system is more interesting. They're clearly trying, but it's going to be an uphill climb.
I agree with this. I only disagree with calling them more competitive on paper because that's not true when games factor in. So far at least. Next year might actually be a game changer this time.
 

cireza

Banned
I don't think that Xbox wants Japan that much, but having all the main Japanese series is important, and this has clearly been a strong focus for them.
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Yeah, at early Xbox 360 gen, not for too long and that's a long ass time ago.
They're also doing it now with all the Japanese games coming to gamepass. I think it's gonna take more than that to get Japan on board, but otherwise they've clearly been trying more than Not
 

DaGwaphics

Member
They've definitely made a lot of inroads with developers over the last 4 or 5 years. Many titles that were PS/Nintendo only are starting to come to Xbox as well.

They can't do well in Japan until the games that are popular there are represented well in the Xbox catalog. Regardless of whether or not these attempts at being more popular in Japan are futile, the effort is improving the Xbox game library.
 
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