It looks like the trend of Japanese games coming to PC is on the rise. In a recent interview, XSeed CEO Ken Barry talked about what the trend means for PC gamers and Japanese developers.

But while “pretty much every single Japanese publisher” is now putting its games on Steam, there are still challenges to be overcome, particularly with regard to player expectations. “PC gamers are very demanding when it comes to play options, and that's something that's been difficult to relay to our Japanese development partners that are used to working within a very confined environment on consoles," Berry said. "Oftentimes they will wonder why we need more than three screen resolution options or as many options as possible to turn graphical settings on/off that may affect performance, but thankfully PC gamers tend to also be technically proficient and patient, so they tend to give us a lot of great feedback and advice post-launch so that we can continue refining the games together.” 

Berry also extended words of assurance to long-time fans of Xseed who may worry that the move to the PC could blur the company's focus. “There will always be some concerns about us publishing a title outside of our usual comfort zone may be preventing us from publishing something else that some of our fans may want or expect,” he said. “But hopefully they understand that we are trying to grow the business by publishing titles in addition to that ones that we normally would rather than instead of.”

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