All across the industry, prices are rising. We've seen hardware prices go up, as the PlayStation 5 is more expensive than when it launched, and subscription prices hike up as well, following last month's announcement that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate would go from $16.99 to $19.99 a month. The latest price increase will be for the Xbox Series X|S, where the MSRP of the console will increase a fair bit, but only for customers in Japan. In a market that Microsoft has struggled to compete in, it'll be even harder to move Xbox units, as the Xbox Series X will go from 59,978 yen to 66,978 yen, the Xbox Series S (1TB) will go from 44,578 yen to 49,978 yen, and finally, the base model Xbox Series S will go from 37,978 yen to 44,578 yen.

Currently, the Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series S have combined to sell about 600,000 units total. While that number is staggeringly low, it is worth noting that it's an increase over the last generation, as Microsoft only ever sold about 100,000 Xbox One systems throughout that console's lifetime.

Source

 

[SDA]

Xbox exists in Japan?

Yes, and it's even got some Japan-exclusive titles.

 

[Maximo101]

Japan is Sony all the way. And Nintendo...

Wonder if MS will follow suit in the USA and Europe?

Japanese who want XB can get one off of Ebay...

 

[Citizen_404]

Great idea... To kill Xbox in Japan.

I know you are joking, but some C-suite executive probably got a huge bonus for coming up with this idea of raising the price "We'll make more money!"

 

[Bladexdsl]

this is them at this point in japan

 

[Maximo101]

this is them at this point in japan

You need to point Sony and Nintendo arrows at all the battle droids...

 

[Kraken_X]

To be fair, the exchange rate is 146 yen to the dollar right now. Normally it's about 100 yen to the dollar. So Microsoft is making ~50% less on products sold in Japan compared to normal.

Rumor has it that the reason why Nintendo keeps delaying the Switch 2 is for similar reasons. Because when they pull the profit back to Japan, they will lose ~50%.

But, if you were planning to visit Japan; food, lodging, etc. is effectively half off. Also, the dollar being as strong as it is is a sign that the US economy is doing well compared to other countries.

 

[stanleyopar2000]

Kill Scalebound
Kill Tango Game works
increase price for consoles in Japan.

They're not even trying with the international audience anymore

 

[Fugelmir]

You know what else was rising? The dark Knight, and nobody was complaining about that.

 

[xdarkx]

I would think this is another brain dead decision from the top brass of Microsoft (ie. not from Phil but guys that are above him).

 

[solitonmedic]

I’m sure that will work wonders over there.

 

[ZeroFX]

People don't buy these over here. It has gay flags.

 

[chrisrlink]

Microsoft had struggled to push the Xbox in Japan, my theory is that Nintendo and Sony were mostly dominating the market by that point.

I also blame racism in Japan towards westerners for xbox's immediate downfall

 

[Jayinem]

I really don't understand why Xbox is successful in any region after they made all the same games be on PC and Xbox.

"I want a worse version of a PC because I'm poor or too cheap to buy a gaming computer, and I'll still miss out on the Sony exclusives and other exclusives the PC provides" literally why.

 

[wiindsurf]

To be fair, the exchange rate is 146 yen to the dollar right now. Normally it's about 100 yen to the dollar. So Microsoft is making ~50% less on products sold in Japan compared to normal.

Rumor has it that the reason why Nintendo keeps delaying the Switch 2 is for similar reasons. Because when they pull the profit back to Japan, they will lose ~50%.

It's the quite the opposite, bringing profits back would be beneficial at the current exchange rate, as they would get more yen for every dollar earned abroad. A devalued national currency always benefits exporters in said nation...

 

[ViTaLC0D3R]

Microsoft struggles selling Xbox consoles in Japan, so I'm having a hard time to understanding how a price increase this will result in more consoles in Japan.

 

[TankedThomas]

Sony and Microsoft already did it here in New Zealand.

I don't think it's helped them at all though, and PS5 still has no games.

 

[Handburger]

classic Microsoft, trying to squeeze more money out of the almost non-existent player base in Japan.

 

[Vetusomaru]

"This will help selling Xbox in Japan! Just like with censoring Japanese games!"

 

[Tofu_mommy]

Once you multiply the new price by the amount of sales any sane person would expect from xbox in Japan (0), you still end up with a 0, meaning that the effort spent in raising prices was wasted. Just pull out of that market, preferably the whole industry. All Microsoft did was ruin gaming even more than it already was, and never managed to put out a good system.

 

[regnad]

And this while the yen has totally tanked.