Microsoft has already reduced the price of Xbox Series S in Japan

Xbox has reduced the price of Xbox Series S in Japan, just weeks after it announced launch details for the budget next-gen console.

As reported by Famitsu, the Series S price has been reduced by 3,000 JPY ($29 / £23) to 29,980 JPY, excluding tax. Xbox Series X pricing in the region (49,980 JPY) remains the same.

The price reduction follows last week’s PlayStation 5 launch announcements and positions Series S to be a full 10,000 JPY ($96 / £75) cheaper than PS5’s Digital Edition console, which will retail for 39,980 JPY ($385 / £303). Pre-orders for Series X and S in Japan begin tomorrow.

“Update:”

26

Japan’s initial Xbox Series X/S pre-orders have quickly sold out everywhere

Xbox's next-gen consoles are seemingly off to a positive start in the region

Xbox held a live stream presentation during Tokyo Game Show‘s digital event on Thursday, in which it called Japan Xbox’s “fastest-growing region worldwide”.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer claimed the platform holder had learnt from past mistakes and intends to better cater to Japanese players this console generation.

Xbox has made no secret of its intention to improve its position in the Japanese market and a Series X and S global launch in November represents a big improvement from its last console, Xbox One, which arrived in the region almost a full year after the Western launch.

Earlier this year Xbox boss Phil Spencer said he felt the platform’s market position in Japan wasn’t acceptable and pledged to do “a much better job” with the Series X launch in the region.

Spencer has also stated multiple times that he’d like to add a Japanese developer to Xbox’s first-party studio line-up, in order to create content that better appeals to the Japanese audience.

In a July Jeux Video interview, Spencer said the Xbox Japan team had been working “really hard” to build relationships with developers in the region.

“We know gamers worldwide want amazing games from some of the best creators in the world and we know many of those are Japanese creators,” he said.

“I’ve been proud of our progress that we’ve made over the past 4 or 5 years. At E3, we’ve always had a really strong showing of Japanese-created games on our stage.

“We know we are not a Japanese platform company. We know we will have to work to rebuild trust with Japanese creators. And we think that happens over time, and continuing to listen to what they’re looking for and what they need in order to reach that global audience.”

He added: “We know it’s a critically important to our strategy to make sure that amazing creators in Japan feel that Xbox is a platform where they can have success.”

Further reading

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According to market research company IDC, Xbox One has made just 0.3% of its global sales in the region. In Famitsu’s annual sales report for 2018, it’s claimed that Xbox One sold just 15,339 units during the entire year (compared to 1.7 million for PS4 and 3.5 million for Switch).

PlatinumGames’s Hideki Kamiya recently told VGC he felt Xbox could do more to market towards Japanese players’ tastes for their console.

“If I were to share my innocent opinion as a gamer, I would say that ever since the Xbox has been introduced to the Japanese market it’s always felt like something foreign and far away,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like it’s ever been cultivated for Japanese tastes.”