While Microsoft has notable talent from its teams in the United States and Europe, the only market the Xbox firm is primarily absent in is Japan. But, the firm for a few years now remains adamant is tackling the territory. Previously, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer told that its deal for Bethesda in 2021 would act as a “greater step” for Xbox’s presence in Japan thanks to Tango Gameworks.
And with the focus on more publishers & developers from the eastern nation, Xbox is slowly growing in Japan. Noted, the Xbox Series X|S has already outsold the 2001 Xbox in the country showing strength is amped up compared to the previous hardware. Additionally, the firm has partnered with the likes of Square Enix & even Kojima Productions to offer new content for its platform from talent in Japan.
When speaking to Game Watch, Spencer during an interview phrased a ‘Blue Dragon’-like title is very possible to be coming to Xbox. AAA-scale projects are expected as he elaborates on the work that is underway with its partners, he shares via an auto-translator.
You can count on it. In fact, last year we launched “Hi-Fi RUSH”. It was a small title, not as big as “Blue Dragon”, but it should have been high quality. Japanese game creators are also within Microsoft Game Studios, and while some titles have yet to be announced, we are also working with Japanese manufacturers to develop new games. The development environment is growing, including first-party and third-party, so we can expect to see more Japanese titles in the future.
One of Xbox’s largest partners currently is Sega. The Japanese publisher continues to collaborate with Microsoft with marketing arrangements and assist in bolstering Xbox Game Pass with new Japanese titles. In the past, the Xbox firm even considered approaching Sega for an outright acquisition of the firm at one point.
More recently, documents that leaked revealed a marketing campaign co-op between both firms for Xbox Series X in Japan to be handled by Sega. This included special themed covers for consoles. It was not until Tokyo Game Show this month that Spencer confirmed console wraps will be coming to Japan later in 2023. You can read the full report by heading here.
What is your take on Microsoft’s drive for more Japanese content on Xbox?
Source: Game Watch
