I’d love to see it though late ports ain’t gonna move the needle. Best thing they can do is fund exclusives (still waiting since D4, MS…) and do an acquisition. JP Games is my realistic choice for a good acquisition because the talent is there but they seem to be in need of a partner to start doing some output.
With PS5 basically dead in the water (Switch just took all 30 slots in the Famitsu top sellers twice in a row, for the second time this year, Japanese TV shows are literally starting to mock the PS5 situation at this point) in Japan and Sony being content with that, it seems as good a time as any to strike. Of course, I do not expect them to ever move Xbox consoles there. That is just not happening, but exclusive content on GP will gain subs.
Continue porting over classic Japanese titles, both large and niche, like (launch some of these into Game Pass if possible):
Persona
SMT
Danganronpa
Nonary
Guilty Gear
Invest into at least 2 more first party studios in Japan.
Be agressive with marketing some of the smaller titles on Xbox. Make these developers know they’re valued on the platform.
Express interest and work with publishers on various aspects of the business to keep them more intertwined with Microsoft (this is already happening with SEGA, would be very surprised if Square hasn’t been approached).
I do believe Xbox can strive. Sure, it won’t be big as PS and definitely not Nintendo, but it can be a good enough option. Plus, they are up to speed on trend such as cloud gaming. It’s clear they’re not giving up, especially with upcoming vtubers marketing. I know 360 didn’t really take off, but instead of getting exclusive for now, gain enough attraction with established franchise and games.
Time has changed and we are seeing market differently. Perhaps not placement has changed, but the focus and appeal has. It just needs time.
Like I said I do not expect them to ever move much consoles in Japan. However, an acquisition plus some exclusives are important because
It shows commitment. There are devs like Koei Tecmo who said they’re waiting to see if MS is really committed to Japan before they commit to Xbox.
It will help get Western fanbases of Japanese games into the ecosystem. Old JRPG ports aren’t gonna work too well and multiplats will only marginally help. Getting exclusives onto the ecosystem as WELL as multiplats and ports will be better because there will be more fans in the ecosystem for those.
It will give Xcloud some exclusive games that JP audiences may want to sign up for. Xcloud will be the closest thing to an Xbox handheld, because they are certainly not going to do a native one. We already know that MS has accepted that Xbox consoles won’t sell in Japan. The TGS stream literally had Phil stating “Xcloud is a great way to play Xbox Game Pass, without the need of an Xbox console” and had the ads with Japanese gamers using Xcloud rather than the console.
The point about the PS5 is that their iron grip on Japanese developers is loosening very quickly (many smaller devs saying they realize they are gonna have to support Switch now) which is good because Nintendo is not overbearingly controlling of these devs like how Sony was, which makes it easier for Xbox to work with some of them.
Great thread, I agree with the OT, MS never had a really comprehensive strategy and this spreaded the urban legend “Xbox cannot have those games”, both from haters and fans, which is false, simply MS never tried enough and/or for long enough the one and only time they started a real push (beginning of 360 gen). Now that Sony abandoned region and limits only to moneyhat big names and exploit the automatic support, there is room for improvement, more than in the past.
To crack the region and get more support imo they need to A buy a publisher, which is incredibly difficult because of their market position over there or B buy some independent devs like they did in 2018-2019 in NA and EU, to show their REAL commitment over there outside pr talks and Bandai Namco marketing deals or years late ports from SE and SEGA. The third thing imo is giving the money to the publishers which still refuse to support Xbox properly. ID@Xbox has started, even if guiltily late and we are already seeing some indie gamea from over there. The end goal is obviously have EXCLUSIVE output other than a better multiplatform support.
Some people here underestimates the overall influence and also diversity which japanese support can give to Xbox, it’s no coincidence the golden era of the brand was when Xbox had it.
The fact non existant platforms like Stadia and Luna got some of these games it’s a testament of Xbox lack of initiative over there outside pr talks imo, the usual “it isn’t worth” imo is nonsense, if you never begin, you’ll never finish.
i rather they stop shipping consoles to Europe and Japan and sell em where customers actually want them(north america). xbox can have all the japan exclusives they want, it still won’t sell anywhere well, besides north america. I am glad they aren’t wasting time and effort on niche games.
Stop selling Xbox outside NA would be the right thing to let Xbox die, lol. IDK if you are joking or it’s the usual american high ground some have, lol.
The problem with Japan is that it isn’t a large enough market to support all of the exclusivity shenanigans going on there. This is a case where the PS5 would actually be helped if the Xbox sold more IMO. What I mean here is Sony could use MS’s help to rival Nintendo. You’d have more marketing, more support, more exposure, etc. for the developers making “next gen” games. It could be PS5+Xbox vs Nintendo but right now it is Nintendo with no rival and PS5 vs Xbox.
Basically Sony may be protecting themselves from another rival, but they are protecting Nintendo from another rival and rival market (traditional console vs hybrid portable) too.
MS just needs to focus on Game Pass and carve out a “game subscription” niche in Japan.
god i hope not. nintendo and sony own that market and genre. if ms owned all the Japanese pub, people would still not buy an xbox. and like most xbox fans, we don’t give a rats ass about jrpgs. top selling games agree with me.
We don’t really get enough popular JRPGs to compare to other titles sold on the Xbox storefront.
The ecosystem needs to grow on Xbox, and that’s finally becoming more of a thing now that Xbox is partnering and working with more publishers on this front (Yakuza, Tales, Kingdom Hearts, etc.).
It’s fine if you don’t like them, just remember there are plenty that do.
and getting more japanese games isnt just to appeal to Japanese gamers, its to make the brand more appealing to everyone worldwide, getting more of any games, including japanese games is never a bad thing
It just takes time. I mean think about the acquisition announcements back in 2018. It’s not like the games will start arriving exclusively the following year. Good things come for those who waits.
