Cognition Dissemination: Microsoft Should Have Taken Japan More Seriously

It’s no secret by now that Microsoft’s Xbox brand isn’t anywhere near as popular as Nintendo’s platforms and Sony’s PlayStation in Japan, nor has it ever been. Xbox consoles have sold well worldwide, but Japanese sales have only accounted for a small fraction of those. CNBC posted a lengthy video that highlighted why the brand has failed to gain traction in Japan, which also documented how some of Microsoft’s early plans fell through.

Doing well in Japan doesn’t seem like a big deal these days. Video game software and console sales keep dwindling in the country over time, partially thanks to waning interest in console games. It doesn’t help that video games are still seen as a hobby primarily for kids and teens in the country (though several adults do play games), and there are less kids to go around thanks to the country’s continually declining birthrate.

But the original Xbox debuted in the early 00s, at a time when gaming consoles were still popular in Japan, nearly in tandem with the sales behemoth that was Sony’s PlayStation 2. Japanese games were also still incredibly dominant in terms of sales worldwide then. This should have been the time for Microsoft to take the Japanese market seriously. It’s a pity they didn’t, because given their resources, Japanese games and gaming as a whole could have been in a better place. Not a considerably better one, mind you, but the market and development ecosphere would have nonetheless benefitted from Microsoft elevating and funding games developed in the country.

The original Xbox had several notable Japanese exclusives from third-party developers and publishers, including the likes of Dead or Alive 3 (and later Dead or Alive 2: Ultimate), Ninja Gaiden, the pre-Souls FromSoftware’s Otogi games, and Breakdown. But Microsoft didn’t put anywhere near as much effort into directly funding Japanese games compared to western initiatives.

Their two most notable Xbox games were Magatama and Phantom Dust, both of which released late in the system’s life, and only one of them is well remembered. Magatama was a hack-and-slash 3D action game with a solid concept and classic Japanese setting, but it turned out mediocre compared to several other games in the genre around that time. There’s a reason why itwas left in Japan. Multiplayer action strategy game Phantom Dust, however, became a cult classic. It’s a pity it arrived mere months before the Xbox 360 launched, and that Microsoft couldn’t be bothered to publish it themselves in western territories, which left the task to Majesco Entertainment.

Microsoft appeared to have learned this lesson early in the 360’s life, a system whose hardware was designed by a Japanese firm. The highlight was a partnership with Mistwalker, which, at the time, promised three projects. The titles immediately attracted the gaming audience thanks to how they were produced by Hironobu Sakaguchi, well known as one of the key creators of the extremely popular Final Fantasy series. The two RPGs, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey turned out well in terms of quality, though didn’t receive the level of advertising they should have in order to sell — the former especially. This led to the cancellation of the third project, Cry On.

Microsoft also published the merely-okay Ninety-Nine Nights on 360, a Warriors-style game created by Japanese and South Korean development teams. They also published Ninja Gaiden II themselves, instead of leaving the task to Tecmo (later Koei Tecmo after they merged in 2009).

These partnerships sadly only lasted for around half the 360’s life. Microsoft was originally slated to publish Ninety-Nine Nights II, but left the remaining funding and publishing duties to Konami. (The game is mainly remembered for the hilarious presentation from Konami’s E3 2010 conference these days.) They did the same for tri-Ace RPG Infinite Undiscovery, which Square Enix picked up. Once Microsoft pulled back on first-party Japanese initiatives, third-party publishers did the same and opted for more multiplatform games.

It was too late for Microsoft to do anything about their relationships with Japan and its developers by the time the Xbox One arrived in 2013. Hardware and software sales had fallen to the point that even Sony shifted their focus from Japan to western territories. These days, Microsoft only relies on third-party advertising deals for multiplatform Japanese games, while most exclusives launch on non-Xbox platforms.

The country’s game development landscape would have been much different had Microsoft given it a better shot. Xbox systems could have been good homes for Japanese RPGs if Mistwalker’s titles received better advertising and support, for instance. It didn’t help that they pissed off some Japanese talent with ignorance, especially former Resident Evil director and producer Shinji Mikami. Mikami ended up walking out the room during a meetin, where the company tried to strike an exclusive deal for the RE series. (Capcom went with Nintendo and GameCube instead.) Heck, it would have been even better if they actually teamed up further with Sega, despite the Dreamcast’s underwhelming performance in Japan.

The Japanese gaming industry would have faced the same problems it’s dealing with now regardless of whether Microsoft took it seriously in the early 00s. Xbox couldn’t have single-handedly stopped the country’s birthrate from slowing massively, after all. (Right!?) But it would have provided a good jolt for the country’s gaming landscape and Japanese games as a whole that would have lasted for years.