Xbox Series X|S Has Outsold PS5 In Japan, Again

Supply constraints only go so far… this is the third month in a row now? Nobody is forcing them to buy an Xbox. If they want a ps5 and have zero interest in Xbox they’ll wait for a ps5. This is good news for Xbox.

Excellent news, keep it up Xbox. It’s obvious the Japanese dislike Jim Ryan’s PlayStation and the abandonment of the Japanese market closing games studios etc.

What even is this generation. This should not be happening.

Almost feels like a protest buy in Japan

@Bleachedsmiles Exactly. From what I've seen loads of former Sony fans have been frustrated by Playstation's move to California and they feel like it's lost it's Japanese roots in the process. Wouldn't be surprised if the PS5 winds up being a divisive console for Japanese gamers. The Switch seems to easily dominate there, but outside of that it's impressive how Xbox has finally been managing to gain some ground.

I know a few in the UK so maybe the same in Japan.
If Sony can’t get us consoles in stock then we go elsewhere.
The same is happening with cars and TVs from a buying point of few because of chip shortages.

@S1ayeR74 exactly. That combined with the effort from Xbox on getting more Japanese games on Xbox which was once again made clear during the Xbox showcase, doesn't make this to surprising. Sure lifetime the playstation will probably outsell the Xbox by a landslide but it's clear that Xbox is gaining ground in Japan and a logical reason why that is. This is positive for people who like Japanese games on Xbox as well since the better Xbox is doing in Japan the higher the chance more Japanese games will follow

@JayJ obviously the lack of availability doesn’t help. But I do think quite a few are put off by the size of the ps5 too…space is such a luxury over there. And I know they didn’t like the swapping over of the button layout on the PlayStation controller after decades of being programmed to play a certain way.

But again…all that would go to explaining ps5 sales being lower than expected…not particularly Xbox sales being higher than expected. They’re ultimately buying into Xbox because they want to.

I don’t think Xbox will end up ‘winning’ this generation over in Japan. But they’re making great ground for what comes next

Arent sales still like 1.8 mil to 200k?

I don't understand the point in comparing sales between PS5/Series Consoles - certainly not when there are obvious stock issues.

Its much more important to compare this gen with last gen - especially in those regions that are traditionally weak for that platform as its much more 'reflective' and show a companies 'relative' success or failures.

Sony may well still sell more PS5's in Japan than Xbox so you could say Xbox has 'failed' - but if they end up selling 4 or 5x more Series consoles than XB1's in that region, that is massive growth and 'success' for Xbox.

For whatever reasons, gamers are 'willing' to buy a Series console in Japan. They certainly wouldn't buy if they didn't feel it offered 'enough' of what they want, regardless of stock issues. If you are desperate to play PS5 'exclusives', you aren't going to blow your money on a Series S/X and then not have the cash to buy a PS5 when stock comes. Not going to buy multi-platform games or MP games on Xbox when you and your friends all prefer PS. Therefore, it must be appealing to more Japanese gamers than its predecessors.

What maybe more telling, with regards to the Japanese PS fans and potential disillusionment with Sony/Jim Ryan, will be the 'final' sales figures at the end of the Generation when 'stock' supply can't be an issue. It will tell us whether there is 'growth' in the Japanese market for 'all', whether Xbox 'for example' has converted some to Xbox or its 'growth' can be attributed more to Gamers adding Xbox as another option. If Sony aren't losing sales, then maybe Japanese gamers are more likely to own 'both' these days more than opting to 'switch' to Xbox...

Still too early to tell but its clear that MS are having 'more' success in Japan this gen...

This is a serious reach. 6000 units sold in an entire country over a month and people think this is good? Its quite clear if you look at overall unit sales of the platforms that its simply availability. Even though in overall sales Sony are smashing xbox in japan, the sales are pretty stiffled and Sony arent doing a good job there. Miles better than xbox of course, but both are very small fry compared to nintendo. Handhelds rule in japan, as does anything smaller, like a series s.

Im not sure why such non news has to be presented like a great win when it so clearly isnt. Xbox has a lot to celebrate and has plenty of genuine wins and brilliant news to share, this kind of stuff just makes people doubt the real wins...

Yes, if there were PS5’s in stock, they would be selling more than Xbox, but I’m impressed with the numbers Xbox is putting up. The fact that they are selling in Japan at all is impressive. Xbox is turning things around this generation. Very nice job Xbox!

This is just a week's sales, last week the ps5 sold double what the series S/X sold combined... If you're going to report weekly sales then do it every week and not just weeks where xbox sells more as its gives a false narrative.

Sony are also sending more stock to Europe instead of Japan, the ps5 has outsold the series S/X in the UK for the last 2/3 months.

Its going to be different in each region and a lot of leader swapping

@Titntin 6/13 to 6/19 = over a month 🙄

@UltimateOtaku91 I think anyone can agree it’ll be different in each region. Of course. This is a good sign though. This gen won’t be like the last one. And that’s great for everyone, neck and neck compet is going to make this a fantastic gen. Yeah yeah, ps5 outsold Xbox by about 5 million this far, but it’s still a new gen. It will NOT be a 2:1 or 3:1 like some people thought. Xbox is gaining ground and doing an awesome job.

@Bleachedsmiles this is weekly, famitsu don't do monthly, this is only the second week this year xbox has outsold playstation so it's getting a bit overblown as this site doesn't show the sales every week and only when xbox sells more.

Though xbox sales are still positive overall and doing better than the xbox 360 by this stage so definitely a good sign for xbox

@11001100110zero you're right and if it wasn't for supply issues both consoles would be well into 30-40 million sales by now.

Whilst it will be more close this gen between the two I still think overall sales for both of yh will be pretty low compared to all previous gens due to stock issues

It’s fun all this ups and downs with weekly sales and stock shortages etc having an effect.
This generation including switch which is a bit weird will end up simple.
Switch, if it is to be included in this generation
PS5, similar to PS4 sales
Series consoles , with some small gains in some territories over the Xbox one.

We don’t need any sales numbers or to be qualified business analysts to work the above out.

@deadmaker yeah, my bad, its comparing weekly, thanks for pointing that out! 👍
Fortunately I dont think it invlidates what I was trying to say, at least not in this jumbled head!

@UltimateOtaku91 Wrong, they wouldn’t be selling in 2 years half the total amount of PS4 sales so far. That is what your claiming. More like 15 million if that.

@S1ayeR74 pretty sure both are pushing 20 million already, plus gaming is on the rise since the pandemic so they're more in demand

@UltimateOtaku91 18 million for the PS5, 12 for the Xbox after Googling, but Microsoft don’t give official figures out. I still don’t think you’d be anywhere near 30 2 years in personally, and definitely not 40. I think it would be 22 million ish.

@uptownsoul i mean its great for xbox its selling more like its 360 days there, but sony just has supply constraints as both sold extremely low figures

Awesome as the news sounds, even if we know it's just because PS is under-supplying Japan (which itself is indicative of what PS has become), the bigger headline is that Japan managed to sell less than 10,000 video game consoles in a week that weren't Nintendo.

Doesn't really matter if PS or XB wins the weekly sales. Consoles are deader than a doorknob in Japan unless they say Nintendo on the box.

One take-away for XB, though, is that, in Japan, especially, there's very much a conformist/consensus mindset. If nobody takes XB seriously, than nobody else will take XB seriously. Whether due to PS stock shortage or not, XB gaining a small foothold there opens the door for that foothold to widen over the years. The more people see more other Japanese gamers playing XB, the more interested others will become, as it becomes "acceptable." But that will take another generation or two to matter much.

@SplooshDmg Pretty much that.

Ironically, Shu Yoshida proudly posting his launch day XSX on Twitter probably helped start the ball rolling. And TBH, given the the treatment of PS Japan staff by Ryan and crew, was probably not unintentional.

Sony: 😂*laughing at year long game exclusivity
Ms: 🤨oh yeah, fine. *locks up chip exclusivity
Sony: 😶

*tongue-in-cheek

@SplooshDmg @NEStalgia Sakurai said he likes Xbox and not only he's Japanese and influential but makes games for a Japanese sect (Nintendo) 😂. The new Sony looks down on Japan so I don't think they really care about these news. Japan seems to belong to smartphones and Switch this generation. The biggest news is that Xbox is alive again in Japan and that PS5 is not PS4 anywhere in the world.

@Banjo- good point on sakurai. He's actually very highly influential in Japanese development circles and writes his column for devs. I can't think of a modern Western dev on that level, but it would have been John Carmack back in the day.

@PhhhCough LOL, who'd have thought CPUs would be Xbox timed exclusive?

Although I've never seen a PS5 on a shelf, I've never seen a Series X either. I pre-ordered mine with delivery.

I think the difference this console generation from a Japan perspective is that the games that appeal to them are now starting to actually be released on Xbox Series X/S, unlike with Xbox One.
Then you obviously have Game Pass being another enticing factor, plus the more budget friendly Series S model.

@Banjo- same. We pre-ordered our two off of Amazon. Mine sowed up day one, her's, the day after.

Curious to see what the sales figures are in the UK. I work in a video game store and we have at least 15 PS5's in our stockroom and availible on the company website. We have sold more Series X recently

@InterceptorAlpha It's like they don't exist and we got them using internet's magic LOL.

@Banjo- Yeah, I’ve only actually ever seen Series S in the wild.

I had a PS5 and have been primarily a Sony gamer since 7th gen.

2 weeks ago my oldest son got a series s and I was seriously impressed, there is nothing like Forza on PS5 (please don't say gran Turismo is as good because it ain't) and replaying perfect dark after 20 years was amazing and also coming back to world of halo after not playing since the very first one was also amazing. Couple that with the terrific value of gamepass and the fact that aside from the last of us games I haven't really been into Sony's exclusives and I can't stand VR and that seems to be a direction Sony is leaning heavily into I decided to make the switch to Xbox so I sold my PS5 and got a series x and haven't looked back.