Microsoft has sold just over two million consoles during its lifetime in Japan, according to a new report in Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, and spotted by VGC. The original Xbox launched on February 22, 2002 in Japan, and in the twenty years since, a total of 2,345,975 units have been sold, the vast majority of which were Xbox 360s. The console breakdown is as follows:

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

The Xbox Series X|S is off to a good start, already beating out its predecessor in just 15 months. The Series X|S is also the first Xbox console to launch in Japan at the same time as the rest of the world, and Xbox head Phil Spencer has said that he plans to improve Xbox's place in Japan this generation. Speaking to GamerTag Radio in February 2020, Spencer said "I don’t know if we’re winning in Japan any time soon, but the position that we have in Japan today from a platform isn’t acceptable to me," before getting into more specific plans for this generation. “We’re going to do a much better job with this next, upcoming launch of not waiting ten months to launch in Japan like we did last time. We’re going to make sure our services like Game Pass, xCloud and stuff are there so people will have access to it.” Game Pass was launched in Japan in April 2020, and Xbox Cloud Gaming with Game Pass Ultimate made it to Japan last September.

The report also revealed the top five best-selling games in Japan, with Dead or Alive 3 on the original Xbox topping the list with 271,149 units sold, meaning 46% of original Xbox owners in Japan bought the game.

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

Source

 

[64bitmodels]

people talk about why japanese dont like xbox in europe it doesnt sell much too, it usualy sells half of the usa number

USA EUROPE
xbox 15.77 / 7.17
xbox360 49.11 / 25.87
xbox one 32.45 / 12.47
xbox series 6.80 / 3.90 (so far)

SO yeah without usa sales xbox would be a preety poor sold console

Sony sales and nintendo ones are much more even between usa and europe numbers, they dont have the desparity of being almost half everytime.
PS2 53.65 / 55.28
ps4 38.59 / 48.74
ps3 29.42 / 34.99
ps1 40.78 / 31.09
ps5 7.38 / 7.31

weird how that half consistency is there
but yeah like a good chunk of the Xbox sales come from america
Sony got a hand of the overseas markets way way earlier

 

[XDel]

Wait, I thought Bill bought nearly all the Hamburger farms because he doesn't want us eating beef?!?

 

[fvig2001]

If the RROD didn't happen, I wonder if Xbox would have much better numbers there. I'm sure Kinect will still flop since it needs a lot of space.

 

[LoggerMan]

I wonder if it's kinda nice being an xbox gamer in Japan, having the experience localised just for you and the few other thousand xbox owners. It must be a fairly personalised experience, a single xbox owner of Japan Facebook group could swing the game charts just by buying the same game one night.

 

[fvig2001]

I wonder if it's kinda nice being an xbox gamer in Japan, having the experience localised just for you and the few other thousand xbox owners. It must be a fairly personalised experience, a single xbox owner of Japan Facebook group could swing the game charts just by buying the same game one night.

I'd say it probably sucked for them. It was common for PS3 versions of Xbox 360 games to be released later with upgrades like that Tales game and the beloved Idol Master games. Then they experienced RROD.

Then on Xbox One, they had less games.

 

[pedro702]

I wonder if it's kinda nice being an xbox gamer in Japan, having the experience localised just for you and the few other thousand xbox owners. It must be a fairly personalised experience, a single xbox owner of Japan Facebook group could swing the game charts just by buying the same game one night.

most games dont come out in japan so they barely get any game localized tbh, so it sucks for them if they dont know another language, also they would have to go to other xbox shops to even buy the games since they arent on jap shop.

 

[1c4rus]

Great to hear they fails in Japan and hope this will never change. I don't like any Western involvements in Japanese games industry or studios at any level.

 

[Zajumino]

So what is the main reason Xbox fails in Japan?

Microsoft isn't japanese.

Besides this, it might be due to a relative lack of games on Xbox that fit Japanese preferences. And even if this isn't the case, there still could be that kind of perception.
For example, the only Monster Hunter on Xbox is MHW and was probably only there to help it get into the western market.

Or maybe they don't like the logo. (I find it ugly, by the way)

 

[FLRIZDARKK]

Xbox failed in Japan because Xbox assumed that Japan is the same as US or Europe. It's not really about being a US company (tho it could be a slight reason), it's just that if you look at Japan's top-selling games (especially on Xbox) it will be dominated by RPG / Japanese franchises (fantasy, happy, anime) that frankly don't fit with Xbox's vision (shooters, gritty, dark etc). Now sure you will see the usual Call of Duty's/Tom Clancy's etc, but overall is something Xbox is foreign to (it just doesn't fit). The Switch is a perfect fit for Japan, the PS4 is nowadays about 60/40, and the Xbox is more like 05/95.

 

[eyeliner]

Great to hear they fails in Japan and hope this will never change. I don't like any Western involvements in Japanese games industry or studios at any level.

FromSoftware wants to beat you in the mouth with a hamburger with fries and a coke.

 

[raxadian]

Well... it does help that the Switch is quite underpowered and the PS5 is hard to get.

 

[Purple_Shyguy]

Japan is incredibly xenophobic

 

[FLRIZDARKK]

Japan is incredibly xenophobic

I would say it's just that Japan isn't USA or Europe, thus having different preferences in games

 

[ChiefReginod]

What's the word for Japanese people who are weaboos for Western stuff? I wonder if those people view Sony fans as being very basic.

 

[nikeymikey]

nintendo wouldnt be nintendo if that wasnt a possibility xD the only company that a home console never flopped was playstation, so far every home console they made was either the most sold of the generation or in second place.

Pkaystation does have the sheep effect on a HELL of a lot of people! They owned the previous gen PS so will always go and buy the new one even if it’s not the best.
Sony could basically release a dustbin with a PS6 logo on it next time round and the sheep would still buy it. Same ones that go out and buy fifa and cod every year without fail.

 

[FLRIZDARKK]

Pkaystation does have the sheep effect on a HELL of a lot of people! They owned the previous gen PS so will always go and buy the new one even if it’s not the best.
Sony could basically release a dustbin with a PS6 logo on it next time round and the sheep would still buy it. Same ones that go out and buy fifa and cod every year without fail.

Nah, that's not it. It's just a console a lot of great games are only released on it, so people buy it. Same thing with Switch.

 

[nikeymikey]

Nah, that's not it. It's just a console a lot of great games are only released on it, so people buy it. Same thing with Switch.

I know people who are exactly as I described. Will not ever even consider buying any console unless it’s a PlayStation. Must have it on launch day and must deny all existence of rival consoles

 

[FLRIZDARKK]

I know people who are exactly as I described. Will not ever even consider buying any console unless it’s a PlayStation. Must have it on launch day and must deny all existence of rival consoles

Those people are a very small minority.

 

[nikeymikey]

Those people are a very small minority.

I used to work in game shops and I’ve seen it first hand dude it happens more than you’d think.

Myself I always get all consoles from each gen anyway, but I tend to get Xbox first.

 

[FLRIZDARKK]

I used to work in game shops and I’ve seen it first hand dude it happens more than you’d think.

Myself I always get all consoles from each gen anyway, but I tend to get Xbox first.

It depends, even as that, compared to worldwide, still a very small minority. Personally, I couldn't care less if it's a Xbox, PS or a Switch as long as the games I want are on that console (ex: Persona games).