With Microsoft being the only current console manufacturer to not hail from Japan, it makes some degree of sense that the Xbox has in the past struggled to secure a number of Japanese games. That said, this has been improving significantly in recent years – with Xbox forming partnerships with the likes of SEGA and ATLUS. Speaking on the Xbox’s relationship with Japanese games, Phil Spencer has claimed that “there's obviously more work for us to do.”

In an interview conducted by Giant Bomb, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer spoke on the company’s current relationship with Japanese developers and publishers and why many titles still skip Xbox, saying “It's not any one thing. Sometimes it's business deals that are done, sometimes the team has a focus that they're just…'hey we can only support two or three platforms' and they're kind of reducing development risk. It is real, every platform you add, adds more work to the development team.”

Spencer continued, “Sometimes it's just a team that doesn't have a lot of connection to Xbox and they don't necessarily see it in their local game store when they walk in. It's even why our presence on the ground with Xbox–even if we're not selling as many consoles as the competition, if you go to Yodobashi Camera, I want there to be an Xbox section, I want there to be games that are shown.”

Spencer concluded by saying “I also want the teams that are kind of on a base level that Xbox is a games platform and it's something they see in their daily lives. I love the progress that we've made over the last 5 or 6 years there, but there's obviously more work for us to do.”

As mentioned, Xbox has been cultivating a number of exciting relationships with Japanese publishers – with the likes of Persona coming to Game Pass day-one. Still, as mentioned by Phil, there is much work to be done.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Xbox currently? How can they gain more ground in the Japanese market? What Japanese publisher would you like to see Xbox make a deal with? Let us know down below.

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