Famitsu reveals sales in Japan, it’s not very glorious

As we know, for a few years now, Microsoft has decided to no longer communicate on the sales figures of its Xboxes, regardless of the territories. Since the failure of the Xbox One against the PS4, even in the United States, revealing its results, with rare exceptions, has become a taboo subject. It was without counting on the magazine Famitsu, a veritable institution in Japan, which regularly reveals the figures for sales of games and hardware, and which has just taken stock of the Xbox brand on Japanese soil, in particular for the 20th anniversary of the first console. If Japan has always been hostile ground for the American manufacturer, the catastrophic sales have only really been so since the advent of the Xbox One on the territory, since the first Xbox still managed to sell 472,992 copies, while the Xbox 360 managed to attract 1,616,128 Japanese gamers. It is also Microsoft’s biggest success in Japan, which had put great resources into attracting Japanese players. But the popularity of the Xbox 360 is also visible in the rest of the world, the console enjoying a real fervor within the industry, then it was the downfall.

If Japan has always been hostile ground for the American manufacturer, the catastrophic sales have only really been so since the advent of the Xbox One on the territory…

Indeed, with the Xbox One, the American giant suffered the plaster of poor communication on all plans and results, in the land of the Rising Sun, only 114,831 consoles were sold during its entire duration. existence, i.e. from 2013 to today. The failure is total, the affront also and to go up the slope, Microsoft will have to redouble its efforts. We know that Phil Spencer has set out to conquer Japan with the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, but the transformation is not yet clearly visible. It’s obviously much better than the Xbox One generation, but with 142,024 copies sold in the space of a year and a half, all models combined, it’s obviously not enough, especially if we compare with the PS5 which has already exceeded one million units sold over the same operating period. And let’s not talk about the Nintendo Switch which has crossed 20 million in sales, but this since 2017. Microsoft, or at least Phil Spencer, does not give up and continues to make sure to deploy in Japan, as evidenced by the recent arrival of the News Xbox Wire sitewhich will allow us to better communicate with the public about the news and things planned on Japanese soil around the Xbox Series X|S.

• Xbox: 472,992 sales
• Xbox 360: 1,616,128 sales
• Xbox One: 114,831 sales
• Xbox Series X/S: 142,024 sales

In addition to the sales of all Xboxes since in Japan for 20 years, Famitsu also reveals the list of the 5 best-selling Xbox games in history on Japanese territory since February 2002. Unsurprisingly, it is Dead or Alive 3 that ranks number 1 in sales with 271,149 copies on the first Xbox. At the time, fighting games still enjoyed a strong aura among players, even more so in Japan, a country where Versus Fighting is considered one of the most noble genres in video games. If we ever start doing calculations with the number of Xboxes sold at the time, i.e. 472,992 units, sales of Dead or Alive 3 represent 46% of owners of the machine, i.e. almost 1 player out of 2. On the other hand , the other four titles in the Top 5 are all J-RPGs, which proves how strategic the genre is to sell consoles, and that, Phil Spencer has always understood.

• Dead or Alive 3 (Xbox): 271,149 copies sold
• Star Ocean 4 The Last Hope (Xbox 360): 208,521 copies sold
• Tales of Vesperia (Xbox 360): 204,305 copies sold
• Blue Dragon (Xbox 360): 203,740 copies sold
• The Last Remnant (Xbox 360): 154,493 copies sold

Will Microsoft succeed in restoring its image in Japan? Nothing is less certain, but Phil Spencer continues to deploy similar means to the rest of the world. We remember that the Xbox Game Pass was released in April 2020 there, and that the service generated attendance records on Xbox Series X | S and PC. There is also another way for Microsoft to impose itself on a territory that is hostile to them: buy local studios that know how to speak to their audience. Microsoft was in this current mood to buy everything, it is not forbidden that the next “moves” will be in the direction of Japan. With the acquisition of Bethesda Softworks, the Japanese studio Tango Gameworks (The Evil Within, Ghostwire Tokyo) is now part of the Microsoft fold, while rumors of a takeover of SEGA by Microsoft could well be a profitable strategy for the American giant … Wait & see as they say.