Phil Spencer Confirms Dedication to Japan
Microsoft has recently confirmed that the Xbox Series X will releasing in Japan during the holiday 2020 release window that’s set for the North America region as well. Phil Spencer has further pledged that Xbox would do a much better job in Japan in the near future as well. So far the games that are confirmed to launch with the Xbox Series X in Japan are Halo Infinite, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Scarlet Nexus and Bright Memory: Infinite. Many games from the original Xbox to the Xbox One will be present on the Xbox Series X when it releases, with Game Pass remaining one of many ways to access them.
The Xbox One launched almost a year later in Japan than it did in other regions and that likely contributed to lackluster Xbox One sales in the market compared to Nintendo Switch and PS4 sales. It looks like Microsoft has learnt from this mistake, with a likely simultaneous launch for Xbox Series X in all regions when it releases this holiday season. Phil Spencer recently stated that he’d like Xbox “to mean more than it does today” in Japan and thinks the current status of Xbox in Japan is unacceptable.
“I don’t know if we’re winning in Japan any time soon, but the position that we have in Japan today from a platform isn’t acceptable to me,” said Phil Spencer during a recent interview. “We’re going to do a much better job with this next, upcoming launch of not waiting ten months to launch in Japan like we did last time. We’re going to make sure our services like Game Pass, xCloud and stuff are there so people will have access to it.”
Although Xbox is trying to expand more into the Japanese market, it seems like PlatinumGames would rather stay an independent studio than sign on with the Xbox Game Studios.
Do you hope to see Xbox really expand into Japan? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: VGC