Microsoft establishes Japan-specific gaming division

By Adam Rosenberg July 6, 2011

For a long time now, Microsoft has been unsuccessfully trying to crack the Japanese gaming market. Xbox Live is pretty much the gold standard these days when it comes to getting online gaming community-building right, and still the Xbox 360 flounders as Japanese gamers flock to the more compelling content (for local audiences) available for Nintendo and Sony products. Microsoft is taking a new step toward changing that now, with the creation of a new Interactive Business Division at Microsoft Japan.

The new division and its general manager, Takashi Sensui, were confirmed at a press conference laying out the company’s plans for the fiscal year. A few more details are filled in by andriasang, based on an interview with Sensui by Japanese outlet Impress Watch.

The new interactive division GM admitted that Microsoft’s Kinect peripheral has underperformed thus far in the Japanese market. His plan — or part of it, at any rate — is to put a new push behind developing IPs that take advantage of the device in ways that will please the Japanese audience. Which of course means that import junkies here in the United States and elsewhere are going to have all sorts of shiny, new games to drool over that likely won’t ever be released globally.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

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