As you may know, Spencer is an expert at giving some information while not really saying much. This is the case again. The Xbox One executive simply replied to a tweet saying that Japanese developers are interested in the platform. Spencer adds that he tested “a lot” of new titles that will be coming to Xbox One and Project Scorpio. However, he did not expand on which developers he met and what specific games we can expect to see. Japan has been something of an unconquerable market for Microsoft. Xbox has always been second best to PlayStation in terms of sales. This is even true of the seventh generation. Both the Xbox 360 and PS3 sold similar numbers globally, but in Japan Sony’s console far outsold Microsoft’s.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) March 6, 2017 Of course, both Sony and Nintendo are Japanese companies. There are other reasons why Japan is cool on the Xbox brand. For example, the country is notable for having an internal games industry where many titles don’t leave the country or south-east Asia region. Microsoft has struggled to secure partnerships with major Japanese developers. There is a lack of noted Japan-based franchises on the Xbox One. Things are slowly changing, however, and Spencer’s claims suggest Microsoft is making headway in the country. Project Scorpio may help further growth in Japan. It will be the only 4K providing console, which could be important in a country that values tech advancements.
Project Scorpio Launch
While Microsoft introduced Project Scorpio, the company is expected to do a full launch at E3 2017. The company will discuss full details about the console before rolling it out to consumers in time for the holiday season. Spencer has recently said Microsoft may even fully announce the device before E3. He says the company has a lot to discuss and does not want to fill it media event with hardware-only launces. Spencer also added that Scorpio will be an Xbox One family device, but will come with a different design.
