Phil Spencer: Acquiring Studios in Asia 'Would be a Good Add for Us' - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 January 2020 / 4,110 Views
Microsoft has acquired several video game developers to grow its first-party lineup. Xbox Game Studios has grown from five developers a few years ago up to 15.
Head of Xbox Phil Spencer speaking with Game Informer in an interview said an acquisition of a studio in Japan or mainland Asia would be a "good add."
"Sure, we could do publishing relationships there, and we might do that; I think that’s fine. In fact, I would suspect we will do some of those," said Spencer.
"But I also think as we continue to evolve our platform, having a first-party studio voice at the table that is from Asia, whether it’s Japan or another market, would be a good add for us."
Microsoft has yet to have success with the Xbox in Japan. An acquisition of a studio in Japan would help make some inroads in the land of the rising sun.
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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Microsoft needs to leave Japan alone. The Xbox will never take off in Japan, and the US Xbox fanbase hasn’t really supported most Japanese games. They all sell much better on PlayStation In the US.
Should have acquired or opened some Japanese studios before the launch of the original Xbox.
All that would have done is killed Japanese studios. The original Xbox had problems in Japan well beyond Japanese games, starting with MS’s ignorance on doing business in Japan,
Would have been a waste. That money is better spent making AAA western projects.
I thought Lost Odyssey was great, but thats about the only great thing that came out of their Japan push.
I feel they should remaster Lost Odyssey. Maybe put it on PC, Switch and even PS4 if they want to be advantageous. That would be a good way to test the water and see if sequel is worth considering. Although it should be more like an action game for larger appeal. Not unlike Final Fantasy these days.
If they can find studios that are in touch with western markets, then its worth doing. May add some unique content to the Xbox library.
However, Xbox doesent neccessarily need to succeed in those market. Trying to appeal to Japan was a waste of time, its rather small and niche so just let Sony and Nintendo fight over it.
There are a few Japanese studios that make content geared toward the west. Team Ninja may arguably still be one. Sega was notable at one time and gave Xbox good support. People still buy Sonic games I guess.
I rarely get excited about Japanese games, but when I do its generally because its from studios that understand the western market.
So whatever MS does, I doubt its to gain marketshare in Japan. I argue thats a market Sony has kinda given up on as well. They simply rely on 3rd party games to push hardware in that market. While Nintendo is doing a good job taking marketshare and exclusives in Japan.
NO, stay from them.
Doubt most Japanese studios would have much trust in Microsoft especially after Scalebound.
Thats one project and two sides to that story, but more importantly not many Japanese studios make popular games in the US these days.
I have said many time that Sony is popular in Japan yet their focus is western focused content from their western studios.
