Xbox Japan head Takashi Sensui resigned this week as Microsoft’s newest console fell to a sales low in the home of its big gaming rivals, Nintendo and Sony.
Xbox One launched in Japan back in September and sold just 23,562 units in its first week, which looked pretty bad compared to week one sales of over 300,000 for both PlayStation 4 and Wii U. Things have gotten worse since, though, and Xbox One only sold 776 units last week, according to analytics firm Media Create. It’s a sign of the continuing disconnect between Microsoft and Japanese gamers that caused the Xbox 360 to fail there previously.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1614958,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"A"}']In comparison to Xbox One, Sony’s PlayStation 4 sold a respectable 12,430 units last week, and Nintendo’s Wii U sold 9,615. Even Sony’s last-generation console, the PlayStation 3, stayed relatively strong, outselling the Xbox One nearly six times over. Xbox One has now sold a total of 38,461 units in Japan compared to PlayStation 4’s 809,065, according to Media Create figures posted at NeoGAF, although Sony’s console had a seven-month headstart. Wii U, meanwhile, is closing in on 2 million lifetime Japanese sales, helped by recent big titles like Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Mario Kart 8.
Microsoft has linked with key Japanese developers for Xbox One, releasing the episodic adventure D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die exclusively on Xbox One back in September, and Xbox boss Phil Spencer said earlier this year that Japan was a “critical” market for Microsoft. Getting gamers to buy into that idea looks like a tough ask, though.
Kotaku reports that Sensui, who took over Xbox Japan in 2006, will move to the U.S. as Microsoft’s general manager for the interactive entertainment business.
Yoshinami Takahashi, the general manager of Xbox Japan’s consumer and partner group, and Nobuyoshi Yokoi, the head of the consumer and partner group retail business, will jointly take charge of Xbox Japan.