Xbox and its head honcho Phil Spencer have always been active in their attempts to try and expand the brand to non-Western markets, whether that’s by trying to shake the dominance of Nintendo and Sony in Japan, or by trying to carve out a niche in the PC-dominant gaming landscape of South Korea.
However, there’s a growing sentiment among Korean players that Xbox is abandoning the country despite it being the fourth-largest gaming market after China, the United States and Japan. Obviously, this statistic comes with the caveat that most gaming in Korea is done on PC or mobile, not on consoles.
A Tough Market to Crack
The Haemosu
This development was investigated by Korean outlet Global Economic (nice spot, Automaton) who pointed to the lack of Korean localisation for Starfield and the upcoming The Outer Worlds 2 as evidence of Xbox’s lack of commitment to Korea.
Global Economic reached out to Xbox for clarification regarding localisation for The Outer Worlds 2 and the company confirmed they had «nothing to announce» on the subject.
The lack of Korean localisation for Starfield was especially surprising given there was local marketing for the game in the Korean language, and there are several references to Korean culture within the game, such as the ship Haemosu which is named after a figure from Korean mythology.
Avowed, which was released earlier this year, has had its Korean localisation delayed until August at the earliest, another blow to Korean Xbox players.
The Outer Worlds had Korean subtitles at launch in 2019. The change in localisation prioritisation between The Outer Worlds and its sequel is perhaps indicative of Xbox’s change in priorities in regards to the Korean market.
In contrast, Nintendo and Sony tend to support the Korean language as standard. This is largely because console ownership in Korea, as in Japan, is skewed heavily towards Nintendo and Sony. According to statistics gathered by Korea’s Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), 72.3 per cent of console owners own a Nintendo Switch, 42.9 per cent own a PlayStation and just 10.9 per cent own an Xbox.
With the tide against Xbox, there’s every possibility the company will continue to deprioritise Korea.
Xbox Game Studios
