Mena Sato Kato’s promotion marks new era for Xbox in Asia after transforming Japan’s market

In a pivotal move for Xbox's growth, Mena Sato Kato has ascended to Managing Director of Xbox Asia, aiming to transform the gaming landscape in Japan and beyond, as Microsoft seeks to bridge gaps with elusive local publishers and emerging markets.

Historically, Xbox has struggled incredibly hard in Japan. That was, until 2023.

In 2023, Microsoft appointed former PlayStation exec Mena Sato Kato to lead the charge rebuilding Xbox's footprint in Japan, which remains one of the world's most lucrative and important gaming markets. Japanese publishers of all shapes and sizes have been finding increasing success both at home and in the West, thanks to new franchises like Elden Ring and big staples like Resident Evil.

One thing that remained consistent was Microsoft's dire struggles to not only win interest from Japanese gamers but also court favor from Japanese publishers, many of whom sought exclusivity deals with PlayStation over publishing on Xbox. Times have changed significantly since then, and Mena Sato Kato has been cited as a big reason.

Leveraging her industry contacts and wealth of experience, Mena Sato Kato helped bring various Japanese publishers back into the Xbox fold, including, most notably, Square Enix. Final Fantasy went from being among the least published prolific Japanese franchises on Xbox to one of the most published. In fact, Xbox is now the only platform where you can play every classic Final Fantasy game, thanks to Xbox backwards compatibility. Square Enix has also pledged to bring Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Rebirth, and the third instalment on Xbox day one. And not only that, Square Enix is one of the few publishers that has fully pledged to support not only Xbox Cloud Gaming, but also Xbox's buy-once licensing model, Xbox Play Anywhere.

Mena Sato Kato's success has been heavily recognized by Microsoft in a new promotion, which she shared on LinkedIn this week.

Mena Sato Kato is now Managing Director, not just of Xbox Japan, but all of Xbox Asia. There's an absolute mountain of opportunity for Xbox in the region, particularly as PC gaming becomes increasingly prevalent. Steam is poised to become a China-first platform in demography, and Xbox PC has solidified its place as the second-place PC gaming storefront thanks to PC Game Pass.

There's a ton of work still to be done, of course. There are still many Japanese publishers unwilling to work more heavily with Xbox. Nihon Falcom, known for the "Trails" RPG franchise, is notoriously absent from Xbox in near totality. Konami has also taken exclusivity deals with PlayStation for Silent Hill 2 Remake, despite bringing Silent Hill F to the Xbox ecosystem on day one (complete with Xbox Play Anywhere, I might add). Microsoft also notoriously fumbled both Black Myth Wukong and Stellar Blade, which were announced for Xbox but later took exclusivity deals with PlayStation. It hasn't all been bad on Microsoft's end there, though — the ID@Xbox team did land viral Japanese hits like Palworld exclusively previously.

Capcom has also offered mixed support for Xbox, with its big heavy hitters like Resident Evil Requiem skipping Xbox Play Anywhere, despite previous games like Resident Evil 2 joining the program. Capcom has also dragged its feet bringing some of its legacy ports to Xbox, such as Monster Hunter Stories 1 and 2, despite pledging 3 earlier this year.

Microsoft is going to showcase its Japanese and wider Asian partners at the Tokyo Game Show later this month, with an Xbox showcase to celebrate. There, we're expecting to see Forza Horizon 6 revealed, potentially with a Japanese setting, as well as new showcases for Ninja Gaiden 4 made with Japan's Team Ninja, under Koei Tecmo.

Both China and Korea are increasingly pumping out AAA bangers that are finding huge success in the West. Wuchang Fallen Feathers and Black Myth Wukong have been incredibly popular among new Chinese teams. And Korea's Pearl Abyss, KRAFTON, and Neowiz have found a lot of success via Xbox as well. Neowiz's Lies of P, in particular, found an instant audience via Xbox Game Pass in previous years.

Microsoft's expansion into Asia comes at a crucial moment, as tariffs and other factors make it harder for the firm to win over new players in its traditional markets. Selling Xbox hardware and services in countries less impacted by tariffs, especially in regions where the products are actually being manufactured, could represent a significant opportunity for Microsoft. Emerging gaming regions like India, too, which have been traditionally mobile-first, are increasingly crucial on PC and particularly cloud as well.

The world's gaming landscape is ever shifting, thanks to U.S. tariffs, changing demographics, and generational shifts. Many AAA publishers have resigned themselves to desperate service game trend chasing, as Asian developers and Western indie developers deliver more traditional core gaming experiences. It'll be interesting to see how Mena Sato Kato and Xbox Asia navigate some of these new realities.