Japan is the fastest growing market for Xbox in the world… About this in an interview with the publication IGN Japan reported Jeremy Hinton, head of the Asian gaming division Microsoft… The data is based on the growth in hardware demand and subscriptions. No specific numbers have been released, but Microsoft has said it will continue to try to strengthen the Xbox brand in the country by supporting local fans. For example, the Xbox team is committed to translating all of its games into Japanese. In February Sea of thieves received Japanese localization, and the number of Japanese audiences in it immediately increased.
- Microsoft plans to attend Tokyo Game Show 2023 and is already in talks with organizers… In 2023, she also participated in the event, and before that she had missed it for many years.
- The next-gen Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles have been in short supply in Japan since launch in November 2023… Microsoft is trying to rectify the situation and is working with stores on programs aimed at selling systems directly to gamers, rather than resellers and speculators.
- Japanese indie developers are increasingly interested in Xbox and are turning to Microsoft for devkits…
- Internal Microsoft data shows that many Japanese Xbox Series X | S buyers have never owned an Xbox before… To new consoles Also eyeing local “Xbox 360 veterans” who completely skipped the Xbox One generation… The Xbox 360 sold 1.5 million units in Japan, which Hinton considers a success. For comparison, Xbox One has found only about 100 thousand buyers over the entire generation.
“Japan is a market that cannot be ignored,” the top manager emphasized.
- Japanese players are instantly snapping up new shipments of Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, so it is difficult to say with certainty which model will be more popular in the long term.
- Microsoft is interested in buying Japanese studios and working with Japanese companies on Xbox exclusives, including unique games focused on diversifying the Xbox Game Pass catalog.
- Japanese developers are preparing the largest number of Xbox games in the history of the brand…
According to open data on Japanese console sales from Famitsu, as of June 6, 2023, only 46,113 Xbox Series X | S consoles were sold in Japan, which is several thousand less than the Xbox One sold in the first seven months of its national premiere. … The difference, however, is that the Xbox Series X and S are in short supply due to the coronavirus pandemic, and every new shipment is immediately sold out, whereas there has never been any increased demand on the Xbox One.
The graph below shows that Xbox Series X | S are gradually closing the gap with the Xbox One.
Now in Japan, 800 thousand PlayStation 5 consoles (sold better than the PlayStation 4) and 20.1 million copies of the Nintendo Switch have also been sold.
Read also: What Nintendo Showcased at E3 2023: Metroid Dread, Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re-Boot Camp, WarioWare: Get It Together! – all announcements…
