Almost a full year since the console debuted on American soil, the Xbox One has finally launched in Japan and according to early figures published by Famitsu, Microsoft’s console has under-performed.
Selling only 23,000 across the four days, first-week sales of the current-gen system clocked in at 50% lowers than the Xbox 360 — a console notorious for its mediocre track record in The Land of the Rising Sun — when it launched nine years ago.
To put those numbers into perspective, the Wii U and PlayStation 4 accumulated 308,000 and 320,000, respectively, in only two days on the Japanese market — heck, even the Vita managed to sell close to 325,000 units during its first week.
In terms of Xbox One software, Titanfall weighed in as the highest-selling game — as expected, given that the majority of its sales were the result of bundles — while Kinect Sports Rivals and Dead Rising 3 sold relatively well given the meagre install base.
Alas, the Xbox platform has traditionally struggled to carve out an audience in the eastern market primarily due to its lack of Japanese-centric software. Plus, with natives Sony and Nintendo proving to be tough competition, it was almost inevitable that the Xbox One would be muscled off the scene upon release.
Of course, it’s worth keeping in mind that the console market as a whole has struggled in Japan of late, with much of the population favouring PC and handheld gaming experiences instead — a trend that is only going to accelerate as time goes on.
