Over the past four years, Microsoft’s Xbox One never managed to make a dent in Japan, the homeland of video game giants Sony and Nintendo. In an interview with Famitsu magazine last year, Xbox head Phil Spencer shared his own theory about why the console did not appeal very much to Japanese gamers. “I think it’s due to a lot of games that are released on the console, I feel that a lot of the games are not games that the Japanese public would play and get themselves into,” he explained.
Since then, Spencer visited the country a couple of months ago to discuss with Japanese publishers, but it may still be to soon to see the results of these recent talks. But ahead of the worldwide release of the Xbox One X on November 7, Spencer recently told Japanese magazine Weekly Famitsu that he will “never give up on Japan” (via DualShockers).
Despite lackluster Xbox One sales, Japan remains a very important market for the Xbox team, and we already see some encouraging support for the Xbox One X from Japanese publishers. Final Fantasy XV, which was released on the Xbox One last November will receive a free update to take full advantage of the power of Xbox One X in the near future. Additionally, Code Vein, an upcoming JRPG which made its official debut during Microsoft’s E3 press briefing will also be specifically enhanced for the Xbox One X.
It remains to be seen if the upcoming Xbox One X could move the needle for Xbox sales in Japan, but for now Microsoft’s gaming console still lacks a good selection of exclusive games that could appeal to Japanese gamers. In the absence of good exclusives, getting support for more Japanese publishers will really be critical to improve Xbox One sales in the country.
