- Primary Subject: Xbox Series X|S
- Key Update: Xbox Series X|S sales in Japan fell roughly 74% year-on-year in 2025, with annual totals just above 31,000 units.
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: February 3, 2026
- Quick Answer: Xbox Series X|S sold about 31,000 units in Japan in 2025, a ~74% drop year-on-year, marking one of the brand’s weakest modern hardware years there.
Xbox Series X and Series S hardware had an extremely rough year in Japan in 2025, with annual sales shrinking by nearly three quarters compared to the year before.
Full-year totals place the combined Series lineup at just over thirty-one thousand units sold in the country, a dramatic fall from the six-figure results seen the previous year.
The Series S made up the largest portion of those sales, followed by the standard Series X and the digital-only Series X model, but none of them came close to offsetting the overall decline.
A roughly 74 percent year-on-year decline is not just a slow period, it is one of the sharpest contractions Xbox has experienced in Japan in the modern console era.
Why Does This Count as One of Xbox’s Worst Years in Japan?
This slump appears harsher in context, given that Xbox has consistently struggled in Japan, experiencing short-lived boosts without long-term stability.
Earlier in the generation, hardware totals still managed to reach well into six figures annually, but the 2025 figure pulls performance back toward the brand’s weaker historical phases, closer to the low points seen late in the Xbox One era.
At one point during the Xbox One years, the situation was so bleak that sales comparisons circulating online showed the system being outsold by kid-focused educational hardware (the kind of console designed more for storybooks and toddlers than traditional gamers), which pretty much sums up how niche Xbox is in Japan.
Another awkward comparison hit US hardware sales during Black Friday week 2025, as Xbox consoles fell behind NEX Playground, a Kinect-style family fitness device included in gaming hardware totals.
Did Pricing Play a Role in the Collapse?
Pricing was likely a factor in the decline, as Xbox consoles in Japan have seen several price hikes in recent years, pushing the Series X and especially the Series S well above their original launch costs.
In a market known for price sensitivity and strong domestic platform loyalty, those hikes can make the hardware harder to justify, particularly when paired with rising subscription costs tied to the broader Xbox ecosystem.
When consumers are choosing between familiar, locally dominant platforms and a more expensive foreign system with a smaller cultural footprint, the gap becomes difficult to close.
Looking at Japan’s 2025 hardware market overall, Xbox appears even more marginal, with the Nintendo Switch lineup moving millions of units and the PlayStation 5 remaining comfortably ahead, even with its own annual drop.
Against that backdrop, Xbox selling in the tens of thousands highlights just how limited its share of the market has become.
Considering the steep sales fall, limited yearly volume, and strong competition, 2025 ends up being one of the weakest modern years Xbox has had in Japan rather than simply a slow one.
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