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[Eddie-Griffin]

https://nmiagaming.com/韓國外媒：xbox-在當地知名度不如索尼-playstation-和任天堂/

Why does the Wii account for so much?​

Yesterday (22) South Korean foreign media Xbox News for Koreans posted on its Twitter that although Nintendo and Sony’s PlayStation are very common in South Korea, the Xbox host platform is not very popular. "In South Korea, the console gamers' audience is between 30 and 40 years old, and it is also the majority that leads public opinion in the local game industry, and Xbox should be more of this audience," he added.
According to Statista's data as of June 2022, the top five users in South Korea who own consoles are occupied by Sony and Nintendo, and even the Wii (2006) console has a larger audience than Xbox Series X| S (2020) comes even bigger.
Another netizen left a message saying, "Many students in China/Korea will buy gaming laptops, because the elders generally believe that game consoles will affect their studies." In addition, it is also suggested that the best way to target these areas is to focus on computer or cloud games.
According to Newzoo data, the computer platform accounts for almost half (47%) of the local host market , followed by the mobile platform (44%) , while the host platform only takes a small part of the market (9%) . This also proves the netizen's rhetoric.

Here is the interesting marketshare chart for active consoles in South Korea as of June 2022,

Now what's interesting here, is that the Nintendo Wii, launched in 2006, is actually more in use in South Korea based on this data than the Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series S, individually. Even the DS is ahead, and the old PSP is right on the tail of the Xbox Series S.

It's crazy how much staying power those 3 older system have, but even crazier that the current gen Xbox sku's, both of them, are the only recently released consoles that are selling less than consoles from 2 gens ago.

I think Xbox may need to greatly revamp their Asian strategy and marketing if such a thing is possible. Sure, over time the Xbox consoles will improve, but this is around two years in by the time this chart was out, so that's pretty notable. I'm not sure who's in charge of the region but they may need to restructure the entire team if this is the result. We are talking gaming devices that launched in 2004-2006 outselling machines launching in 2020. Sure South Korea isn't that big of a market and is mostly computers and mobile, but they have enough for things to add up, and Xbox is missing some marketshare here.

To be fair on the DS part of the chart, they may be including 3DS in there. But that still doesn't explain the PSP being right behind Series S, and Wii beating both X and S.

 

[PJX]

Huh this makes no sense. Why separate Xbox series X / S when they are in the same generation and play the same games? This is a shit graph.

 

[adamsapple]

Huh this makes no sense. Why separate Xbox series X / S when they are in the same generation and play the same games? This is a shit graph.

Yep, first thing that came to mind seeing it. What an arbitrary distinction.

 

[Meicyn]

South Korea doesn‘t give a crap about consoles.

There was a pallet’s worth of PS5s sitting at one of the mass transit stations while I was there, I posted a photo of it awhile back. The only people buying them were Americans in Korea, mostly armed forces personnel. Koreans are primarily PC gamers.

Edit: Found the photo. This was last year at Yongsan Station.

 

[feynoob]

Huh this makes no sense. Why separate Xbox series X / S when they are in the same generation and play the same games? This is a shit graph.

Because old xbox is dead in asia, outside of x360 in some region.

 

[nial]

Xbox Series X/S - 25.7%

I call bullshit on that.

 

[Mr Moose]

Huh this makes no sense. Why separate Xbox series X / S when they are in the same generation and play the same games? This is a shit graph.

It's based on a survey.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2022, around 37 percent of console gamers stated that they used the Nintendo Switch. This made it the most popular gaming console, ahead of both older Playstation models and the newest Playstation 5 (PS5). The South Korean gaming industry was worth multiple trillion South Korean won in 2020, with further growth being forecast.

How do Koreans game?

In 2022, the large majority of South Koreans stated that they were playing video games. More than 6 in 10 South Koreans between the age of 10 and 65 years stated that they were playing mobile games, another large share of respondents reported they were playing PC games. Unsurprisingly, mobile and PC gaming platforms led in terms of sales in the country.

While broadband internet connectivity in South Korea is high, many South Koreans prefer to use so-called PC-bangs. These venues provide a social space for gamers to use high performance desktop computers and are typical meeting points for multiplayer computer gamers. With a still growing sales revenue, PC bangs are uniquely popular in South Korea.

 

[Iced Arcade]

I call bullshit on that.

 

[PJX]

It's based on a survey.

Then that's a really horrible survey. Might as well split PS5 regular and PS5 digital or Nintendo Switch OLED and Regular.

 

[Mr Moose]

Then that's a really horrible survey. Might as well split PS5 regular and PS5 digital or Nintendo Switch OLED and Regular.

And Lite that isn't even a Switch. But yeah they are all PC gamers there.

 

[theclaw135]

Who are these people buying Wii U's? The platform never even launched there.

As for Xbox, I have no idea what games Korean players would want.
I'm aware of a few import friendly titles. The XB1 version of Sonic Colors Ultimate has a Korean language option (it wasn't formally released for Xbox in Korea)

 

[ParaSeoul]

Who are these people buying Wii U's? The platform never even launched there.

As for Xbox, I have no idea what games Korean players would want.
I'm aware of a few import friendly titles. The XB1 version of Sonic Colors Ultimate has a Korean language option (it wasn't formally released for Xbox in Korea)

Foreigners living there or korean nintendo fans who imported.

 

[Little Chicken]

That will probably change once MS release a new StarCraft.

 

[ParaSeoul]

South Korea doesn‘t give a crap about consoles.

There was a pallet’s worth of PS5s sitting at one of the mass transit stations while I was there, I posted a photo of it awhile back. The only people buying them were Americans in Korea, mostly armed forces personnel. Koreans are primarily PC gamers.

Edit: Found the photo. This was last year at Yongsan Station.

Yep back in the 90s when all major consoles were japanese,the strong anti Japanese sentiment in the country meant there were rumors going around they caused seizures. Sales weren't great because of it so most of Korea went PC gaming. Playstation was still a popular niche because of the exclusives.

 

[ParaSeoul]

That will probably change once MS release a new StarCraft.

Which will also be on PC so

 

[Little Chicken]

Which will also be on PC so

Yeah it'll be on PC Game Pass too

The one with the big ass Xbox logo on it.

 

[ParaSeoul]

Yeah it'll be on PC Game Pass too

The one with the big ass Xbox logo on it.

Yeah but this is about console hardware sales specifically so how does Koreans buying a hypothetical starcraft game in the future on PC game pass affect the market share of the Xbox console?

 

[Robb]

It’s kinda interesting that Xbox is not as well known yet X/S still has a bigger market share than Ps5.

 

[Daneel Elijah]

I think that there is errors in the chart.
Not a good source but I found this relative to playstation and xbox market share in south korea:

Console Operating System Market Share Republic Of Korea | Statcounter Global Stats

This graph shows the market share of console operating systems in South Korea based on over 5 billion monthly page views.

gs.statcounter.com

I think that the 2 lines for xbox are for recent and last gen versions.

 

[Moses85]

But what about the Holy Grail?

Gamepass, Gamepass, GAAAAME PASSSSS?

 

[excaliburps]

Not just in South Korea, but in most of Asia. Xbox brand is (sort of) dead. No one gives a crap. Being honest here, it's Microsoft's fault. Their marketing? Non-existent. No proper support outside of NA/EU, and they wonder why they are always in second place.

Outside of games, someone at MS needs to check in Xbox's marketing division. Like, it's clearly not been working. First-party games not marketed enough as well. Maybe do something different? Asia is a HUGE market and is not only JP. If I was MS, I'd target other Asian countries bit by bit. Run promos, price drops etc. If they can somehow get those people on-board, imagine that they'll continue it with the next Xbox and so on. That's what Sony did in a way.

 

[mdkirby]

Erm what a wild way to grossly misrepresent data. The splitting of x/s makes it look like it’s losing by a lot when it’s actually beating the ps5. It’s curious this is coming out and misrepresented in this way just after that us senator (paid MS lobbyist) was slamming Sony for he anti competitive behaviour and globally controlling 98% of the console market.

The next day we get fake graphs from South Korea disingenuously backing up her claim

 

[Ozriel]

https://nmiagaming.com/韓國外媒：xbox-在當地知名度不如索尼-playstation-和任天堂/

Here is the interesting marketshare chart for active consoles in South Korea as of June 2022,

Now what's interesting here, is that the Nintendo Wii, launched in 2006, is actually more in use in South Korea based on this data than the Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series S, individually. Even the DS is ahead, and the old PSP is right on the tail of the Xbox Series S.

It's crazy how much staying power those 3 older system have, but even crazier that the current gen Xbox sku's, both of them, are the only recently released consoles that are selling less than consoles from 2 gens ago.

I think Xbox may need to greatly revamp their Asian strategy and marketing if such a thing is possible. Sure, over time the Xbox consoles will improve, but this is around two years in by the time this chart was out, so that's pretty notable. I'm not sure who's in charge of the region but they may need to restructure the entire team if this is the result. We are talking gaming devices that launched in 2004-2006 outselling machines launching in 2020. Sure South Korea isn't that big of a market and is mostly computers and mobile, but they have enough for things to add up, and Xbox is missing some marketshare here.

To be fair on the DS part of the chart, they may be including 3DS in there. But that still doesn't explain the PSP being right behind Series S, and Wii beating both X and S.

You also don’t really read the data you share before spouting off. Your chart is for marketshare of active consoles. Basically, consoles people own.
Why in the world would you imagine they are still selling large quantities of Nintendo DS and Wii consoles today?

Not just in South Korea, but in most of Asia. Xbox brand is (sort of) dead. No one gives a crap. Being honest here, it's Microsoft's fault. Their marketing? Non-existent. No proper support outside of NA/EU, and they wonder why they are always in second place.

Outside of games, someone at MS needs to check in Xbox's marketing division. Like, it's clearly not been working. First-party games not marketed enough as well. Maybe do something different? Asia is a HUGE market and is not only JP. If I was MS, I'd target other Asian countries bit by bit. Run promos, price drops etc. If they can somehow get those people on-board, imagine that they'll continue it with the next Xbox and so on. That's what Sony did in a way.

You realize that chart shows Xbox series consoles with about the same marketshare as PS5?

 

[Seider]

Total 171%

Nice

 

[Three]

Not just in South Korea, but in most of Asia. Xbox brand is (sort of) dead. No one gives a crap. Being honest here, it's Microsoft's fault. Their marketing? Non-existent. No proper support outside of NA/EU, and they wonder why they are always in second place.

But according to this graph XSX/S is ahead of PS5.

Edit: Nevermind this is wrong. The graph isn't showing percentage of console market.

 

[Three]

Total 171%

Nice

The graph is showing the percentage of active users for that specific console and not a marketshare chart. So say out of 100 PS5s in south korea 22 of them are in active use. This would make more sense now.

 

[FoxMcChief]

So the two Xbox consoles combined amount to more than the PS5? Not too sure about this.

 

[Seider]

The graph is showing the percentage of active users for that specific console and not a marketshare chart. So say out of 100 PS5s in south korea 22 of them are in active use. This would make more sense now.

80 of every 100 Ps5s in South Korea are always turned off? Lol

 

[Three]

80 of every 100 Ps5s in South Korea are always turned off? Lol

I can only imagine it's based on a survey like this.
Do you own console X?
Do you use it?

Where they get the percentages.

Anyway I wouldn't put too much faith in this either way, it's from the twitter account "Xbox News for Koreans" and that account posts a lot of bullshit propaganda.

 

[Tomeru]

Won't someone think of Xbox?

Is the new trend.
Un. Freaking. Believable.

 

[ParaSeoul]

Won't someone think of Xbox?

Is the new trend.
Un. Freaking. Believable.

Its like they think the regulators browse gaf and will use these threads to get the deal through

 

[Yoboman]

Time for MS to buy Samsung

Let us compete!

 

[Kiya's Guard]

And neither does Japan, I thought this was common knowledge

 

[VolticArchangel]

SK is predominantly PC/Mobile. The Console numbers you see there are extremely small, so don't get swayed away by graphs, as they don't represent the full picture.

 

[Unknown?]

Huh this makes no sense. Why separate Xbox series X / S when they are in the same generation and play the same games? This is a shit graph.

They are two different devices. Should Vita and PSTV be counted the same because they play the same games?

 

[Morrie’s wig shop]

I was living in South Korea back in 2003ish, they had specialty shops to jail break the OG Xbox and download the entire Neo Geo, SNES/SFAM, Genesis and TG16 collection on to the hard drive to play.
I still have one that’s in perfect working order.

 

[Fbh]

Do Korean on average even like games outside of Esport stuff and mind numbingly grindy MMO's?

 

[BennyBlanco]

Do Korean on average even like games outside of Esport stuff and mind numbingly grindy MMO's?

They are tekken Gods

 

[Laieon]

South Korea doesn‘t give a crap about consoles.

There was a pallet’s worth of PS5s sitting at one of the mass transit stations while I was there, I posted a photo of it awhile back. The only people buying them were Americans in Korea, mostly armed forces personnel. Koreans are primarily PC gamers.

Edit: Found the photo. This was last year at Yongsan Station.

Yeah, I lived there when the Switch launched (outside of Korea) and they were very easy to track down for anyone who wanted one. Yongsan and Kukje had a ton of them. If a portable console wasn't that much in demand in a country where mobile gaming is a powerhouse, traditional consoles definitely aren't going to be.

In my experience, the average Korean would much rather go to a PC Bang and play games with their friends in a social setting than play a single player game alone at home.

 

[Joramun]

PlayStation has always been more popular with the Asian demographic.

 

[DeepEnigma]

 

[Corndog]

Yep, first thing that came to mind seeing it. What an arbitrary distinction.

The post is just console warring. So no surprise.

 

[Corndog]

Which will also be on PC so

Microsoft owns windows correct?

 

[DonJimbo]

Its time for MS to aggressively Market their consoles in RSK

 

[ParaSeoul]

Microsoft owns windows correct?

Yeah but this is about console hardware sales specifically so how does Koreans buying a hypothetical starcraft game in the future on PC game pass affect the market share of the Xbox console?

Already had the exact same reply before lol.

 

[Drew1440]

Huh this makes no sense. Why separate Xbox series X / S when they are in the same generation and play the same games? This is a shit graph.

And why is 'series' not capitalized but the others are?

 

[Fafalada]

To be fair on the DS part of the chart, they may be including 3DS in there. But that still doesn't explain the PSP being right behind Series S, and Wii beating both X and S.

I wouldn't assume that about DS - in SK - NDS was the most popular game console in history. It was literally everywhere - more common to see an NDS outdoors in the city for a few years than an iPhone in 2008/9. PSP was also a bit of a break-out for Sony - IIRC handily beating PS2 in terms of numbers.
No idea how that translates to this - rather odd graph in 2023 - but the point is - NDS/PSP was actually the turning point where for the first time - consoles were seen as mainstream entertainment in SK - rather than a tiny niche for nerds.
Wii of course, rode that wave as well - though it never reached the same heights as its predecessor.

SK is predominantly PC/Mobile. The Console numbers you see there are extremely small

This hasn't been entirely true for awhile now (see above).
While nothing reached the same heights NDS did - HD twins were actually quite popular in SK, and IIRC they were selling hw numbers similar to Germany, which kind of matches up population wise in terms of 'popularity'.
Now sure - Mobile is still massively bigger - but that's also the case everywhere else - including in the consoles biggest markets like US.

But yeah they are all PC gamers there.

Not since the beginning of last decade. SK has been mobile dominated (which is slowly killing their PC market in the process) since early 10s.

 

[Kataploom]

I read it like Xbox series (25.7%) has larger marketshare than PS5 (21.9%)... Also, they include previous PS consoles but not previous Xbox consoles, did Xbox just arrived there by any mean?

That will probably change once MS release a new StarCraft.

*Inserts man saying "Boom!" Gif here"

 

[Fafalada]

Also, they include previous PS consoles but not previous Xbox consoles, did Xbox just arrived there by any mean?

No - 360 was actually rather popular (and as I understood - MSs most popular console to date - the sales were even close to what they were doing in Japan for awhile) but granted I've not followed the market at all in last 4-5 years.

 

[Northeastmonk]

Tekken 1-5 were only available on a PlayStation console. To think that a version on Xbox magically made everyone change their mind is crazy if you ask me. Not to mention all the well known Eastern RPGs Xbox never got.

When I hear about PC cafes and gaming in general. I think about mobile games and downloadable clients on PC. Which makes me care even less about modern gaming statistics. It’s all about service games which isn’t all that exciting. So what if 10 million people play a MOBA game? Half the games I care about the most in Korea are probably niche titles compared to the big money makers on PC.