Looks Like Xbox Might Finally Be Giving Up on Japan
Click to Open Overlay Gallery Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
Microsoft will skip this year’s Tokyo Game Show in September, reports Japanese game mag Famitsu.
While it didn’t give a reason, abysmal Xbox One sales are surely the culprit. The company’s flagship console launched in Japan like a scud last September, and calling its progress “torpid” would be a kindness: Last week, Xbox One sold a laughable 149 units in Japan, compared to 15,000 PlayStation 4s and 10,000 Wii Us.
Xbox sales in Japan have been an albatross for Microsoft since the brand’s inception. The original Xbox failed to crack half a million units total in Japan, and its massive efforts to recruit heavy-hitter Japanese game developers for Xbox 360 only boosted sales to 1.5 million. By contrast, Sony’s PlayStation 2 and 3 bagged over 27 million units in Japan cumulatively, and Nintendo’s Wii managed nearly 13 million.
In November 2014, longtime Xbox Japan honcho Takashi Sensui exited his post for a job at Microsoft HQ in Redmond.
Japanese home and portable console sales have been on the downswing since the mid-2000s, mostly because of mobile gaming’s arrival and meteoric ascent. But even if you factor out Japan’s mania for mobile games like Puzzle & Dragons, the disparity between Microsoft and its devoted console-making rivals is stark enough to make you wonder why the company bothered with a Japanese Xbox One launch at all.
Is this what throwing in the towel looks like? Tokyo Game Show is the Eastern equivalent of our E3 Expo, but it’s also open to the public for half the show days. On its final day last year, it pulled over 100,000 people through its doors. Gamers around the world watch Tokyo Game Show coverage, too.
However doomed you want to assume the Xbox brand is in Japan, grabbing your ball and going home from the biggest marketing opportunity in the region only fuels the narrative that you’re done. Microsoft had flouted that narrative despite dismal sales for more than a decade, forklifting in gargantuan TGS booths year in, year out, and boatloads of Xbox games: the Xbox One’s 2014 TGS game showcase rivaled Sony’s PlayStation 4’s.
A little over a year ago, Xbox head Phil Spencer told GameSpot, “It’s critical for us in the industry that we continue to invest there and see great games come out.”
So much for that, then?
http://www.wired.com/2015/07/microsoft-tgs-2015/
Well, now we know they are getting Kojima for sure lolz
Xbox one is the worst selling console of all time....in japan
they need to appeal more to the japanese whatever they did with the xbox one is the opposite of what they should be doing to make a sexy console in japan succeed go back to the drawing board imo
I can see the futility of trying to sell the Xbox in Japan, but events like this are more than just events for the public, they're opportunities for industry heads and representatived to bump shoulders with each other. If MS wanted to increase support of Japanese developed games, be it exclusives or even just to encourage or negotiate multiplatfirm development and support for western markets, they'd have ample opportunity to do so at an event like this.
The implications go much farther than the Japanese market for this show. It's really the whole Asian region they are packing up from.
Why shouln't they? How much money did the drop in Japan for the 360 - only to sell 1.5 million consoles? If they don't want it, stop selling it there. It's not like lack of Japanese sales are going to impact the XBox brand or 3rd party support.
The implications go much farther than the Japanese market for this show. It's really the whole Asian region they are packing up from.
Why shouln't they? How much money did the drop in Japan for the 360 - only to sell 1.5 million consoles? If they don't want it, stop selling it there. It's not like lack of Japanese sales are going to impact the XBox brand or 3rd party support.
Ugh. The Business Wars people never do get it. Abandoning the Japanese market means abandoning Japanese developer support. Great decision if you just want to be known as a Burger King Box. Bad if you want to have worldwide appeal.
What's the point. They probably have nothing to show.
And if even the Xbox 360 won't shift there, can't imagine what would. All fanboyism aside from all factions, the Xbox 360 was great and a worthy console. I don't know if it's xenophobia or what, but it's pretty pathetic if it is.
As for the Xbox One, well that's a bit of a mess everywhere so I'm not surprised.
The implications go much farther than the Japanese market for this show. It's really the whole Asian region they are packing up from.
Why shouln't they? How much money did the drop in Japan for the 360 - only to sell 1.5 million consoles? If they don't want it, stop selling it there. It's not like lack of Japanese sales are going to impact the XBox brand or 3rd party support.
Ugh. The Business Wars people never do get it. Abandoning the Japanese market means abandoning Japanese developer support. Great decision if you just want to be known as a Burger King Box. Bad if you want to have worldwide appeal.
No it doesn't, there have been instances where a game hasn't been released on the Xbox in Japan but it has outside of Japan on the Xbox.
Has an American console ever sold well in Japan? Hell, has a non-Japanese console every sold well Japan?
Japan especially is an insanely insular culture with very unique tastes.
It's really not that surprising.
While not exactly a console, Microsoft's MSX home computer was very popular in Japan back in the '80s to early '90s. And today, Apple's iPhone is a very popular gaming platform in Japan, outselling domestic Japanese mobile phones.
When it comes to movies and music, America is a much more insular culture, sticking almost exclusively to American (and occasionally British) products. On the other hand, Japanese consumers are generally much more open-minded towards non-Japanese movies & music than American consumers. Video games are the exception, not the norm.
The implications go much farther than the Japanese market for this show. It's really the whole Asian region they are packing up from.
Why shouln't they? How much money did the drop in Japan for the 360 - only to sell 1.5 million consoles? If they don't want it, stop selling it there. It's not like lack of Japanese sales are going to impact the XBox brand or 3rd party support.
Ugh. The Business Wars people never do get it. Abandoning the Japanese market means abandoning Japanese developer support. Great decision if you just want to be known as a Burger King Box. Bad if you want to have worldwide appeal.
No it doesn't. Lots of western developers don't sell their games in Japan.
Besides, Japanese games, for the most part, suck shit now anyway. Those styles of games have never been popular to Xbox owners. You put too much emphasis on a market that has fallen to a distinctive "3rd place" in the global console market. The 360 proved Microsoft doesn't need Japan.
Microsoft shouldn't waste resources trying to appeal in a territory where they've had no success in appealing in the past. Microsoft gets no credit for making the right moves ever.
@XboxStache: it should be all companies goals to do business worldwide.
say you own a business, like mcdonalds yeah you can do good in america but look it branched out to japan and made diff foods there an stuff and now its as big in japan as usa.
why settle only on america? why abandon the rest of the world it doesn't make any sense financially to grow etc.
your job should be make it appealing everywhere not were leaving and taking our ball home or whatever that doesn't make any sense as a business stand point.
consoles should be constantly improving when a new console launches that should be the main console it should be 100% superior to older console is everyway when it launches and should be gaining momentum in foreign countries thats why u make a new console.
you don't make a new console that does worse than your old console that doesn't even make sense xbone is doing worse than the 360 its almost as if they didn't adapt at all to the market over or have anyone over there telling them stuff the japanese ppl wanted over there.
new consoles evolve in markets they don't regress
the xbox one and microsoft have regressed this generation in japan and thats just a fact so has the ps4 they both didn't add much to the japanese landscape and are paying heavy price. nintendo and 3ds adapted to japan ppl better than they did.
This is what happens when you advertize with fattening foods. Merica! >:(
What the hell, lol.
I love how Hamburger = Murica.
The hamburger was originally Mongolian, then spread to Europe, and then it eventually became America's national dish.
yup, also the sandwich is attributed to John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, It's kind of sad Britains most notable culinary accomplishment was to put meat between two pieces of bread, lol.
lol i think they are being smart. the money is going to be wasted. if they sell the same but not spend on the ads marketing etc... then its a win right?
I don't blame them... I don't think Xbox will ever sell well in Japan. MS should concentrate on other markets, such as Europe.
Seriously. Read the article, it flat out says the brand NEVER did much there. They gave it a try but the Japanese were never fully interested in it. Move on, **** 'em. That's business kids.
@XboxStache: it should be all companies goals to do business worldwide.
say you own a business, like mcdonalds yeah you can do good in america but look it branched out to japan and made diff foods there an stuff and now its as big in japan as usa.
why settle only on america? why abandon the rest of the world it doesn't make any sense financially to grow etc.
your job should be make it appealing everywhere not were leaving and taking our ball home or whatever that doesn't make any sense as a business stand point.
consoles should be constantly improving when a new console launches that should be the main console it should be 100% superior to older console is everyway when it launches and should be gaining momentum in foreign countries thats why u make a new console.
you don't make a new console that does worse than your old console that doesn't even make sense xbone is doing worse than the 360 its almost as if they didn't adapt at all to the market over or have anyone over there telling them stuff the japanese ppl wanted over there.
new consoles evolve in markets they don't regress
the xbox one and microsoft have regressed this generation in japan and thats just a fact so has the ps4 they both didn't add much to the japanese landscape and are paying heavy price. nintendo and 3ds adapted to japan ppl better than they did.
Even when misinformation is the main ingredient against overall perception of the product?
I think not. Again, why take a gamble in a territory that made it painfully obvious that your product is unwanted?
It's not a Microsoft problem, it's a gaming demographic/misinformed consumer problem. The Xbox had games such as Panzer Dragoon Orta, Dead Or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, Shenmue 2, Jet Set Radio Future, and not to forget all the exclusive Japanese shmups releases for the 360 and so on. Combine all those games alongside with Microsoft exclusives and third party...imagine that...."Hey, we have all these good games"....bu...bu, it's X-bawx.
The implications go much farther than the Japanese market for this show. It's really the whole Asian region they are packing up from.
Why shouln't they? How much money did the drop in Japan for the 360 - only to sell 1.5 million consoles? If they don't want it, stop selling it there. It's not like lack of Japanese sales are going to impact the XBox brand or 3rd party support.
Ugh. The Business Wars people never do get it. Abandoning the Japanese market means abandoning Japanese developer support. Great decision if you just want to be known as a Burger King Box. Bad if you want to have worldwide appeal.
Japan isn't the rest of the world though as you say. There are still many many other countries that MS can market towards. It makes no sense to attempt to sell and spend and not make a dime off of it just to get appeal in another country.
The implications go much farther than the Japanese market for this show. It's really the whole Asian region they are packing up from.
Why shouln't they? How much money did the drop in Japan for the 360 - only to sell 1.5 million consoles? If they don't want it, stop selling it there. It's not like lack of Japanese sales are going to impact the XBox brand or 3rd party support.
Ugh. The Business Wars people never do get it. Abandoning the Japanese market means abandoning Japanese developer support. Great decision if you just want to be known as a Burger King Box. Bad if you want to have worldwide appeal.
Japan isn't the rest of the world though as you say. There are still many many other countries that MS can market towards. It makes no sense to attempt to sell and spend and not make a dime off of it just to get appeal in another country.
That would pretty much account for scrapping their business everywhere but the US LOL
This will have an impact on future Japanese developed games. They won't see the light of day on Xbone.
TLHBO
Doubt it. If MS approaches a Japanese dev to make a game, like they did with Platinum for Scalebound, the game will be made. Will the X1 get those JRPGs that are going to PS4? Nope, and I don't care. Save that crap. Dark Souls 3 is a Japanese made game and that's coming to the X1.
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