Microsoft has appointed a former Sony employee as head of Japan partnerships in a bid to change the Japanese gaming market dominated by Sony and Nintendo.
Japan's game console market is dominated by Sony, which sells PlayStation, and Nintendo, which sells Nintendo Switch and other products. On the other hand, Microsoft, which sells Xbox, is trying to expand Xbox's share in Japan by adding former Sony employee Meina Kato.
This Former PlayStation Executive Says Japanese Video Games Need Xbox to Grow - Bloomberg
'Japanese publishers need Xbox to expand,' says ex-PlayStation exec as Microsoft gets serious about Japan | Windows Central
Since the first generation Xbox was released in 2001, Microsoft has not focused on the Japanese market. As a result, we fell far behind competitors such as Sony and Nintendo. In view of this situation, Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft's game business, has set out to strengthen relationships with software developer publishers.
Meanwhile, in July 2023, Mr. Kato became Microsoft's director of Japan partnerships. Mr. Kato, who joined Sony in 1999, has been involved in a variety of businesses, including launching internal global organizations and forming alliances with other companies.
Mr. Kato's role within Microsoft is to lead dialogue with local creators and spearhead new initiatives. To that end, Mr. Kato is responsible for actively communicating with Japanese game studios, translating documents for developers, and providing feedback on topics such as domestic promotional campaigns to Microsoft headquarters in the United States.
According to a Famitsu
Mr. Kato said, ``Since there is a limit to growth by relying solely on PlayStation, in order for Japanese publishers to aim for further business expansion, it is necessary to form a partnership with Microsoft.'' Therefore, Mr. Kato is working to strengthen relationships with publishers and leverage Xbox's presence overseas to expand Japanese games overseas. Regarding the domestic game industry, Mr. Kato said, ``Japan has many highly creative and innovative publishers, and unless we incorporate them, we cannot expect to succeed globally.''
Kenji Fukuyama, an analyst at UBS Securities, said, ``There are virtually no countries without Windows PCs, so considering Microsoft's market share, this leaves a huge possibility for Japanese game publishers to expand overseas.In particular, Xbox In emerging countries, where the market share is very high, Japanese publishers are expected to see even greater profits.'
On the other hand, Kato believes that negotiating with publishers is not an easy task and that more adaptations are needed for Microsoft to increase its presence in the Japanese gaming industry. 'Microsoft is facing a variety of challenges, which means there are many things we can and should change,' Kato said.
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