Xbox Series X to launch simultaneously in Japan this year

Two decades ago, the Japanese market was by far the most important one in the world, despite the fact that it has a third of the population of the US. New hardware and games were always released there first. But times have changed and more focus is now on the west, boosted even further by the fact that Microsoft entered the console race with the Xbox.

Since the release of Gamecube and PlayStation 2, it has become common for consoles to actually be released later in Japan. Even from Japanese companies like Nintendo and Sony. During the last few months, Microsoft and Sony have on several occasions said they are aiming to launch their next consoles worldwide later this year - but does worldwide include Japan?

Now Microsoft has clarified this to Japanese magazine Famitsu and says that Japan is very much also a part of the worldwide family, and that Xbox Series X will launch there together at the same time as the rest of the world. There will also be games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Bright Memory: Infinite, Scarlet Nexus and of course Halo Infinite available from day one in Japan.

Xbox 360 did have some success initially in Japan, but with Xbox One the sales have been virtually zero with less than a hundred units selling on average each week. Whether Microsoft can turn this around to at least some extent with Xbox Series X remains to be seen.