Read from pushsquare:
During the developer's latest shareholders meeting (as reported by @michsuzu), Kondo was asked about the concerning trend of declining sales in Japan. More specifically, the shareholder pointed out that sales of Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter — the remake from earlier this year — were down on previous entries.
In a rather candid response, Kondo admits that 1st Chapter's numbers actually fell "significantly short of projected quantities" — but only in Japan.
"We anticipated that such issues might arise in advance, which is why we pursued simultaneous global expansion," he explains. "Overseas, particularly in North America this time, we achieved the highest sales."
Kondo also mentions "significant growth" in markets such as China, particularly thanks to the title's release on PC via Steam.
Falcom obviously isn't the only Japanese company to look beyond its country's borders in recent times. Much bigger gaming entities, like Capcom, Square Enix, and Bandai Namco, have all had to adjust their strategies over the years thanks to a continued lack of interest in console releases (at least, beyond Nintendo's evergreen output).
Kondo concludes: "As for how we'll proceed in the future, we'll focus mainly on overseas markets and multi-platform strategies."
During the developer's latest shareholders meeting (as reported by @michsuzu), Kondo was asked about the concerning trend of declining sales in Japan. More specifically, the shareholder pointed out that sales of Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter — the remake from earlier this year — were down on previous entries.
In a rather candid response, Kondo admits that 1st Chapter's numbers actually fell "significantly short of projected quantities" — but only in Japan.
"We anticipated that such issues might arise in advance, which is why we pursued simultaneous global expansion," he explains. "Overseas, particularly in North America this time, we achieved the highest sales."
Kondo also mentions "significant growth" in markets such as China, particularly thanks to the title's release on PC via Steam.
Falcom obviously isn't the only Japanese company to look beyond its country's borders in recent times. Much bigger gaming entities, like Capcom, Square Enix, and Bandai Namco, have all had to adjust their strategies over the years thanks to a continued lack of interest in console releases (at least, beyond Nintendo's evergreen output).
Kondo concludes: "As for how we'll proceed in the future, we'll focus mainly on overseas markets and multi-platform strategies."
