Writing on Twitter last night, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer admitted that the Xbox brand has not been a top-performer in Japan, but said this isn’t keeping him from looking forward to the Xbox One’s launch in the region come September.
A fan asked Spencer if Microsoft is looking at Sony’s own recent admission that the PlayStation 4 is only doing “OK” in Japan as an opportunity to “conquer Japan.” Spencer replied: “We will be in Japan in September. Japan hasn’t always been the easiest market for us, will be good to launch and be at Tokyo Game Show.”
The Xbox One launches in Japan on September 4, while this year’s Tokyo Game Show (TGS) takes place September 18-21.
PlayStation boss Andrew House said in a previous interview that one of the reasons the PS4 hasn’t gotten off to a great start in Japan is because there is currently a lack of content created by Japanese developers that would appeal directly to the home crowd.
For its part, Microsoft has suggested it won’t have the same issue in Japan. Phil Spencer said in March that the Japanese market is “critical” and even teased that Microsoft has first-party games in development in the region.
“We remain committed to the Japanese market,” Spencer said at the time. “And I know our launch is a little further out, but we’re going to be at Tokyo Game Show again, we’ve got first-party games being developed in Japan, and just as a creative entity itself, the Japanese development community, it’s critical for us in the industry that we continue to invest there and see great games come out.”
Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch |
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