Phil Spencer Wants to Improve Xbox Brand in Japan with Xbox Series X - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 March 2020 / 4,298 Views
Microsoft has never found success in Japan with any of their Xbox consoles. This includes the original Xbox, Xbox 360, and most recently the Xbox One. Head of Phil Spencer in an interview Gamertag Radio said their failure in Japan is "unacceptable."
Spencer hopes that with more effort and Japanese games the Xbox Series X will be able to improve the Xbox brand in the country. Microsoft last year announced several Japanese games were coming to the Xbox.
The list of games includes the Yakuza franchise coming to the Xbox One and Xbox Game Pass Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, which will launch later this month. There is also a long list of Final Fantasy games coming to the Xbox One and Xbox Game Pass throughout 2020.
"When I got into this job, the thing I was seeing was third-parties skipping Xbox One and not even shipping on the platform," said Spencer.
"To be fair there will still be examples of that and every one of them causes me pain, but the number one thing I wanted to do when I started in this role was to get back on the ground a couple of times a year playing with the studio heads, playing their games, and just making them know that I had a commitment to their global success.
"I think one of the outputs of that was just the number of Japanese-published games that we were able to show at E3, and I’ve been really proud of the way that we’ve built a partnership with almost all of the publishers there and had really great showing on our E3 stages, and yes those games are shipping on all platforms.
"But the fact that games that have never been on our stage were on our stage, then we started seeing games that have never been on our platform not only coming to the platform but being highlighted on our stage. That’s the journey that I’ve started."
"We’re gonna do a much better job with this next upcoming launch of not waiting ten months to launch in Japan like we did last time," he added. "We’re gonna make sure that our services like Game Pass and xCloud are there so people have access to them.
I think what you’re asking about is can we have more home-grown first-party content that’s developed there. I’ll just say I think we can. I’m not announcing anything, but I think the Japanese market is specifically important because of the creative community there, because of the gamer community there, and I want Xbox to mean more there than it does today."
The Xbox Series X will launch in Holiday 2020.
thanks GamingBolt.
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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Clearly the answer is to add more X's to the console's name.
Japan wants for nothing more than what it has with Nintendo and Sony. Microsoft is trying to fill a hole that doesn't exist. Hell, that's true everywhere. It's PlayStation minus exclusives.
If they want a piece of the Japanese market, they should buy a Japanese publisher, and have that company continue to put games on Sony and Nintendo systems. That'll get them a piece of the Japanese pie, without having to try to build a brand that just hasn't taken off their
I guess we are going to see a 4th failure in the region, the question is will it sell even less than X1 in Japan?
The only logical move in my mind is trying to get every Japanese game ported to Xbox. Atleast it would be more content for Xbox users in general.
Maybe they will also push xCloud in Japan. That actually makes sense as well.
They already tried to improve Xbox brand with X360 and then gave up Japan again with XOne. If I would be a Japanese, I would feel a bit confused and disappointed and would be very careful to trust MS.
Phil Spencer lists off all these initiatives and strategies he's going to try that MS has tried multiple times before with Xbox in Japan
Did I ever tell you the definition of "insanity?"
When it comes to Xbox, Microsoft is Charlie Brown running up to try and kick the football.
Waste of time and they know it, more classic PR crap from MS. Why do people give giving this crummy company attention.
Let see and wait
Not happening lol
I've said it a few times and I'll say it again. Microsoft needs to keep its hands off of Japan. Xbox in Japan is not only dead, it was stillborn back in 2002. They are not wanted there.
Who's "they?" The AOL trolls when the original Xbox first came out after the demise of the Dreamcast. Those guys?
1.66 million for a console is not a success in any sense of the word, and I doubt they would have done any better. And their Japan strategy resulted in a lot of damage to Japanese studios that signed on. It didn't help their sales any and these Japanese studios were scrambling to port games to PS3 to try to recoup horrific losses. All it really amounted to was cock-blocking Sony from getting content. Seriously, Microsoft needs to stop.
Speaking as a fan of Japanese games, Xbox is the absolute last name that comes to mind for Japanese games, especially when the PS5 and the Switch will almost certainly have those same games plus a lot more that won't be on Xbox. That's true for Japanese games in general. Even in the US, the audience for them is primarily on PlayStation, plus Nintendo gets most of what Sony gets from Japan due to Nintendo's strong Japanese user base. And if Microsoft does buy a Japanese studio, a lot of Japanese gamers and US fans of JP games are just going to skip that studio's games, and the US user base won't make up the difference, and those JP developers will be in a world of hurt once Microsoft's money runs out. Same as happened on 360. No, they do not need to be buying anything in Japan.
Step 1: Get those Japanese games, this includes the niche games.
Step 2: Somehow, someway, get Nintendo support. I don't mean like game support (since I highly doubt that will happen), but have some kind of connectivity with the Switch. This includes Games Pass, Xcloud, full cross-save support for games on both platforms, and remote play.
Even if all this happened I doubt the Xbox Series X would even beat the PS5 since the PS brand is stronger there, even though console gaming has declined hard in Japan.
I feel like fighting to get Japan is not worth it for them. I do think buying a Japanese studio that makes quality exclusives to add to their repertoire is a good idea though.
Spencer never misses a chance to make me laugh everytime he opens his mouth XD
It's a good mindset to have, but I doubt MS can do anything to better their position in Japan. The major studios will definitely port their games to the new platform, but this will be due to the western market. The only thing that comes to mind is Xbox could straight up buy some exclusives, but I doubt that would happen. Most niche Japanese developers would go for Nintendo (considering how Sony is currently treating Japanese devs).
They should just leave Japan alone, if they end up buying a big Japanese studio Like Square or Capcom I'm going to be annoyed if I have to consider buying a third console.
I just won't buy games from that studio, as will an awful lot of Japanese and Americans. The last time Microsoft tried buying Japanese support, during the 360 era, they severely damaged every studio they touched. They all had to try to recoup their losses on PS3. It's the same thing as Epic Games Store buying up exclusivity to try to entice people that don't want their platform.
They care more about Japan than Sony
Just buy Sega. Their stock is really low and they got some good IPs for both East and Western markets.
Well they do say Xbox is the spiritual successor to Sega so makes alot of sense.
Fuck no. Microsoft does not need to buy another Japanese studio.
Who's "they?" The AOL trolls when the original Xbox first came out after the demise of the Dreamcast. Those guys?
Not only Yakuza 0, I can say that at least 1,2 and 6 are also great, waiting to play 3 (didn't like much on PS3), 4 and 5.
Historically speaking, there's little to indicate that Xbox gamers will "look into" high quality Japanese games in meaningful numbers. And, of course, part of this is due to their insignificant presence in Japan. Jimminy, even on PS, I'd consider the Yakuza games, ( and Fist Of The North Star) to be largely unheralded in the west. Spencer can (and does) crap out as much PR flotsam as possible, but those with even a modicum of knowledge know that what he emptily deems "Unacceptable", is quite close to an absolute truth. Japan hasn't, and doesn't, care about Xbox. Regardless of any past initiatives, or lack thereof. And this situation is only made worse by the brand's diminished stature, and general weakness, when weighted against it's contemporaries on a global scale. But whatever. I put little stock in the veracity of his blorts. Just another episode of Phil Spencer Says Something.
Coktoe, Yakuza have been reborn on the west with Yakuza 0, that is the reason they made the remakes and remasters to put all games on PS4 (because 4 and 5 skipped PS3 in the west).
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