NIS America: Microsoft 'Not Very Supportive' of Japanese Games - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 18 October 2017 / 4,829 Views
The Xbox One has failed to crack into the Japanese market regularly selling less than 100 consoles per week and having sold only around 72,000 units lifetime in country.
To compare, the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 have been selling over 20,000 units per week.
Publisher NIS America speaking with MCVUK says that Microsoft is "not very supportive" of Japanese games.
"Honestly speaking, Microsoft's approach to Japanese games hasn't been very supportive," said NIS America president and CEO Takuro Yamashita. "Microsoft, you know, for Japanese games, there's still a very niche element to them, no matter what it might be.
"Microsoft also has a minimum order quantity for their games, and their whole structure isn't really geared toward niche games or smaller games like Japanese titles, so they're not really supportive of Japanese games or developers."
However, this does not mean NIS America will never support the Xbox.
"We always try and pay attention to demand and see where our fan base is," senior associate producer Alan Costa added. "We're obviously not opposed to trying new things. Disgaea 5 on Switch was one of those and it paid off, which is why we're definitely moving forward with that. I think that if the right game presented itself – a game that already had a certain level of awareness for people – we'd definitely be interested in giving it a chance, but it's a chicken and egg problem."
Nihon Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo added, "Falcom is obviously a Japan-focused developer and looking at the situation in Japan, the Xbox has had a difficult time. Because the market isn't there, we have to take a 'if things improve' attitude and just pay close attention to what's happening. However, I want to point that out we're always paying attention to the market particularly in terms of the foreign market, so if the Xbox was to have a sudden rise in the west, we'd obviously be open to considering it in that situation. I'd really like that to be the case.
"When the time came for us to move from PC to console development, we thought very carefully about Sony's platforms and Nintendo's platforms, and we thought it was more than likely that many of the people who would play our games actually owned a 3DS.
"However, one of the trends of PC users is that they prefer gadgets and machines with a higher spec, which obviously is something that Sony was offering there. So after a really careful consideration of both sides, we decided it was more than likely that the people who wanted to play the types of games we made would want to play them on a PlayStation platform, so we decided to go with PlayStation.
"However, balance is very important, too, and thinking carefully about when something should come out is important, too, so there's definitely a big opportunity there for new platforms as well."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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I guess it's a image problem.Xbox is associated too much with first and third person shooters,and none of those are well regarded genres in japan.
Support of Japanese games is what really should matter, NOT backwards compatibility.
While I feel horrible Kondo said so, he's right... Even then, I am glad NIS doesn't like us. I want them to stay away from our console...
Xbox has always "felt" western. I own all three and when you use an Xbox, it just feels like it's made in the US and marketed as such. That, more than anything, has always hurt that brand in Japan.
I honestly don't blame them for not investing in the Japanese market considering how fruitless their efforts have been in the past. That said, it sure wouldn't hurt to at least be supportive of any Japanese developers that want to support your console.
I mean they TRIED with the 360 at least. at least people KNEW what a 360 was last gen...
I mean they TRIED with the 360 at least. at least people KNEW what a 360 was last gen...
I mean they TRIED with the 360 at least. at least people KNEW what a 360 was last gen...
Yeah, no shit. They don't have much of a Japanese audience. You can't get everything on a single console.
well... Looks like there is not several things I want on the Play Station Four and it looks the same for a lot of people based on Xbox One sells.
Microsoft do not give a penny about Japanese games and for good reasons.
I think the worse is your reading comprehension to be honest. As I never said it was good "for owners" to fail at something.
Some of my favorite games this gen have not been on PS4. So again, you cant get everthing on a single console.
Again, reading comprehension. Please improve on that. Thanks.
Little help here: Good reason not support Japanese games != Failing being good for owners. I mean even a 6 years old child can understand that.
Not only you started your shit by bringing the Play Station Four into this but you keep going with your non-sense stuff. Not even sure why you waste your time always trying to downplay anything Xbox One related, like it makes you feel secure about your choice of console... Really weird to be honest.
Most Xbox owners aren't all that supportive of the games themselves either, refer to sales numbers of game X on PS3 v 360... I am of course speaking multiplats, the 360 had a wonderful niche in Japan back in the day.
They wouldn't sell well on Xbox anyway since XBOX sales in Japan are lower than the average sales of a salesman selling sand in the Sahara
Indeed they aren't. But then I don't want to have to support 3-4 platforms at the same time. It's costly. So thanks Microsoft.
Microsoft is not very supportive generally. Rather destructive than beneficial.
Forget japanese games microsoft isnt even focusing on making Any new games at all
Cant blame MS for giving up on Japan. They made a damn good effort with the 360 and still went nowhere. That money is better spent in the markets that have been receptive to their efforts. With that said I am loving Disgaea 5 on the switch.
Essay Pro