It’s no secret that in the history of video games, several companies have gone through tough times when trying to establish themselves in a new market. However, one of the most notable cases of internal resistance in a video game market is undoubtedly that of the Japanese market against the Xbox brand, a brand that, despite relative global success, has never achieved good results in the Japanese market.
And despite being well-known as a “failure,” this story is quite unknown and often misinterpreted, especially by the online gamer community, which makes many memes and constantly uses this to belittle the platform. But let’s analyze this story and show what led the Xbox brand to this situation in Japan.
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A Difficult Start for Xbox in Japan
The Xbox brand had a very complicated start in Japan long before it was even launched. Yes, that’s right, even before the console was launched, the creators knew that competing in the Japanese market was essential to ensure that Japanese developers would create games for the console and help popularize it in the country (which at the time was one of the largest markets for home consoles).
However, even with some partnerships and even Bill Gates’ participation in many events and in promoting the console to developers, the marketing did not work well. The reason? Besides not convincing Japanese gamers, there was fierce competition from Nintendo and Sony, which were much more allied with developers and already had more market dominance and popularity.
But despite all these difficulties, the console achieved a small success, with about 450,000 units sold in Japan (a number very different from its competitors in the country). Even so, the console still had some exclusives (like Dead or Alive 3 and Metal Wolf Chaos).
New Generations and More Problems
With the new console from the company about to be launched, Microsoft used a strategy very similar to the one it used with the original Xbox. However, this time it bet much higher, with more exclusive games like Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, and games with greater appeal to the Japanese audience, in addition to a more aggressive marketing strategy. However, history repeated itself, and again the console did not sell as expected (about 1.6 million units in Japan, a fraction of its more than 89.5 million worldwide). This undoubtedly made Microsoft rethink its strategies and somewhat set aside the Japanese market, not only because it was an investment without return but also due to the growth of portable consoles (an area dominated by Nintendo) and mobile games in the country, which affected not only the Xbox 360 but also all sales of home consoles in the country, which saw drastic sales declines.
And at the launch of the 8th generation of consoles, the Xbox One was launched in Japan (almost 1 year after the rest of the world) and had a tragic launch with only 1,639 units sold, and with less than 70,000 units sold to date (with the Xbox One S having been sold as a Blu-ray player). This time, the problem was not only the lack of popularity but also the nonexistent marketing and little to no investment in content, in a market dominated by mobile games and portable consoles, which only diminished the interest of players.
Blame Microsoft or the Japanese Market?
In a way, both sides have a weight in this question, as we can clearly see that despite all the investment, the company forgot to deliver what the Japanese wanted at the beginning: Japanese games. And even when it realized this with the Xbox 360 and invested a lot of money in producing more games and marketing to promote those games, it was poorly received. In other words, even when it dedicated itself more, it was still ignored by the market and ended up failing to win over Japanese gamers, who are now increasingly…
But besides that, it should be remembered that the Xbox brand was not the first to fail in the country, with several others not even having a chance. This is typical in countries where domestic products are more valued, not necessarily because they are better, but simply because this is the culture of the Japanese people. However, this does not mean that it is impossible, as companies like McDonald’s and Apple have relative success.
Is There Still Hope for Xbox in Japan?
Since the launch of the Xbox One in Japan, the situation seems not to change. However, since Phil Spencer, the head of the Xbox division, has been making some visits to Japan and with the launch of the Xbox One X, things have been improving, with more and more Japanese games appearing on the console and more commercial partnerships (like the marketing exclusivity of games like Dragon Ball Super and Code Vein), which leads one to believe that perhaps in the near future Microsoft will try something new in the Japanese lands, but only time will tell!
And you, do you think Xbox can still succeed in Japan? Do you think it’s the fault of the Japanese market’s disinterest? What do you think would resolve this? またね！
To finish, let’s leave Velberan’s opinion on this subject…
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