Can the Xbox One Survive in Japan?

Image courtesy of Kotaku

The Xbox One recently launched in Japan, and things have not gone very well. In its first four days on the market, the Xbox One sold just over 25,000 units. While that may seem like a strong number for the first few days, things only got worse. In its second week, the Xbox One sold a mere 3,015 units, and then a measly 1,314 units the following week. In comparison, Sony sold about 300,000 PS4s in the same timespan. So in just three weeks, the Xbox One has sold under 30,000 units and it does not seem like things are going to be looking up anytime soon. Compare that to China, where the Xbox One has sold over 100,000 units in just a few days. Console sales in Japan have been slowing down considerably as of late, with both the PS4 and Wii U selling about 9,000 units a piece. Still, it is hard to have any kind of optimism in the Xbox One's current sales performance.

Microsoft's Xbox brand has famously struggled in Japan, and tends to place less emphasis on that market as a result (their biggest markets are the Americas and Europe). According to a recent article from Kotaku, the Xbox One does not seem like it is getting adequate promotion in Japan, despite the fact that Microsoft's booth at the Tokyo Game Show attracted a large crowd. Still, without a strong marketing strategy, the Xbox One is a very hard sell in Japan. Many of the system's non-gaming features are difficult for Japanese consumers to understand (or even care about) and are more tailored to a Western audience. At face value, it seems like Microsoft has just given up on Japan, and is showing no effort to appeal to Japanese gamers.

So how can Microsoft turn things around? Video game website Dualshockers suggests that Microsoft purchase or form a first party studio in Japan with hopes that making more games tailored for a Japanese audience will turn things around. There have been rumors that such a deal was taking place, but Microsoft's Phil Spencer has denied those reports. If Microsoft was to establish a game studio in Japan, there is a good chance that the entire Japanese game market will receive a boost, as the combination of Microsoft's technical know-how with Japan's style of game development could lead to some very interesting things.

The bottom line is Microsoft needs to change things, and quickly. They cannot just pull out of Japan all together, as that would be a tremendous waste of time and money. Microsoft needs to readjust its strategy if they want to become a major force in the Japanese gaming market. This is a wake-up call Microsoft cannot afford to ignore.