Xbox Game Pass will launch in Japan in a week and Microsoft has one more reason to celebrate. Shuhei Yoshida, former Sony Worldwide Studios president congratulated Phil Spencer on Twitter and both console-war “sides” are shaking hands.
Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox within Microsoft has posted the announcement over the Japan Xbox Game Pass launch on Twitter earlier yesterday. As a result, Yoshida replied congratulating them for the success. Moreover, Spencer thanked him with a heartfelt message. The ex-Sony president later admitted to having seen and liked the latest Inside Xbox.
From all things relevant to the video game industry, seeing Sony and Microsoft sharing gratitude over one another is the greatest joy. Especially given the tension between the “winner” over next-generation consoles.
Without question, both companies have nothing to fight about. Sony is a product-oriented company. Releasing amazing exclusive titles and expanding its library is the number one priority. As for Microsoft, services and expansion of Xbox Game Pass as well as bringing new studios to its ranks are its goals.
The Xbox Game Pass launch in Japan is set for April 14th. This move makes its library accessible to a huge part of the market. In numbers, the service will cost ¥1,100 (roughly $10.11) per month. As for the separate console and PC subscriptions, they will cost ¥850 ($7.81) and ¥425 ($3.90) per month, respectively.
The Microsoft opening in Japan will bring more jRPG games to its library. Microsoft is already planning to add franchises like Yakuza, Final Fantasy and maybe Kingdom Hearts to the Xbox Game Pass. This will not only benefit Japan but also global fanbase. We’re talking about incredible franchises that are not major revenue providers right now.
As for Sony, the company is currently on the road to revealing the Playstation 5 model for the first time. Apart from that, multiple exclusive titles are releasing in the new future. The Last of Us 2 is the biggest one of those. As soon as its new release date is out, we can start talking about a game of the year worthy title.
