Historically, Xbox's situation in Japan has been extremely difficult.There was no turning point until 2023.In 2023, Microsoft appointed former PlayStation executive Mena Sato Kato to rebuild the market territory of Xbox in Japan, which is still one of the most profitable and important gaming markets in the world.In recent years, various Japanese publishers have achieved increasingly successful local and Western markets with new series such as "Eldon Far Ring" and old masterpieces such as "Resident Evil".But one thing has never changed: Microsoft has been having difficulty attracting the interest of Japanese players and even more difficult to win the favor of Japanese publishers - the latter is mostly more inclined to sign exclusive agreements with PlayStation rather than logging on to Xbox.Things have changed dramatically since then, and Kena Kato is considered a key reason.
With her connections and extensive experience in the industry, Kena Kato successfully brought several Japanese publishers back to the Xbox camp, the most representative of which is Square Enix.The Final Fantasy series has transformed from being almost absent from the Xbox platform to one of the most comprehensive Japanese masterpieces.In fact, thanks to Xbox's backward compatibility, Xbox is now the only platform that can play all the classic Final Fantasy works.Square Enix also promised to simultaneously launch "Final Fantasy 7: Remake", "Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth" and the third work on Xbox.And, not only that, Square Enix is one of the few publishers who fully commit to supporting the Xbox cloud gaming and Xbox Play Anywhere licensed model.Microsoft also officially recognized her achievements and promoted her in the new news she shared on LinkedIn this week.
Kenina Kato has now been promoted to general manager of Xbox Asia and is no longer responsible for Japan alone.For Xbox, the region has great potential, especially as PC gaming becomes more popular in Asia.Steam is gradually becoming a platform dominated by Chinese users, and the Xbox PC store is also firmly ranked second in the PC game store with its PC Game Pass.
Both China and South Korea are constantly launching 3A masterpieces, which have achieved great success in the West."The Last of Ming Dynasty: The Feather of the Yuanxu" and "Black Myth: Wukong" developed by a new Chinese team are very popular.South Korea's Pearl Abyss, KRAFTON and Neowiz have also achieved great success on Xbox.Neowiz's "Pinocchio's Lies" has quickly attracted many players through Xbox Game Pass in the past few years.
As Asian developers and Western independent developers offer a more traditional core gaming experience, many 3A-level publishers have abandoned their desperate pursuit of the real-time service gaming trend.How Kato Kena and Xbox Asia deal with these new realities is worth paying attention to.