Xbox Series S gets a lower Japanese price ahead of launch

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"We learn from the past," Phil Spencer says

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Xbox Series S has already had its first price reduction, but only for Japanese audiences.

Microsoft cut the planned Xbox Series S price in Japan by 3,000 JPY (about $29 or £23) according to Famitsu, and as translated by VGC. The cut drops the total price for the console down to 29,980 JPY, which is 10,000 less than Sony's cheapest PS5, the Digital Edition version.

Xbox consoles have long struggled to secure a foothold in the Japanese market, and Xbox boss Phil Spencer pledged in the company's digital Tokyo Game Show presentation today to better serve Japanese players and creators with this coming generation.

"Japan and its creators have shaped so much of the magic we expect when it's time to play a game," Spencer said. "A culture and community that has had a profound influence on gaming across the world, on all screens, on Xbox fans and on our team. As we bring games to more devices, more countries, and more people, we hope to see more players than ever falling with stories and characters imagined in Japan, and share more of the best work from our global community of creators back to Japanese players."

Spencer said Japan is Xbox's fastest growing region worldwide, and he indirectly addressed some missteps Xbox made with Japan in previous generations - one of which was bringing Xbox One to Japan in September 2014, nearly a year after its initial launch elsewhere.

"We learn from the past, and this year we're scaling our global vision with the goal to launch our products in Japan at the same time as the rest of the world - including our new console, which will launch day and date with our biggest global markets."

Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar.