This is a bit of an odd one, and frankly continues to be, but at least we’ve got an updated for you now.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve received a number of DMs from Japanese Xbox Fallout 76 players who noted that, for some reason, the game’s premium subscription Fallout 1st became inexplicably removed from their regional version of the game.
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Machine translated into Japanese via Google, it reads: “Fallout 1st サブスクリプション サービスは、2026 年後半に日本の Xbox プレイヤー向けに提供される予定です。日本の Fallout コミュニティの皆様のご理解と継続的なご支援に感謝申し上げます。詳細は近日中にお知らせいたします。”
It’s particularly egregious given how little support Xbox has historically given to Japan for its products and services, but doubly so considering Fallout 1st in Japan, a product Microsoft owns, is still available on Steam and PlayStation.
Microsoft has refused to offer an explanation as to why this is happening, but speculation online suggests it could be to do with Xbox’s systems straying out of full compliance with Japanese financial regulations on payments.
It would behove Microsoft to be more transparent about this, considering how poorly Xbox is already received in Japan. It’s clearly some kind of mistake on their end, and the relatively low priority the firm has given to transparency on this issue is another negative mark against Xbox’s report card in the region.
Microsoft has done some good work to win support from Japanese developers and consumers over the past few years, spearheaded in part by outgoing Xbox President Sarah Bond. Xbox finally landed popular franchises like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Yakuza, and Persona — but small issues like this Fallout 76 situation persist. If Microsoft wants its next-gen Xbox Project Helix to be a success in Japan, issues like this need to be ironed out.
We’ll be sure to keep you updated on developments on the Fallout 76 situation in Japan. For those who were asking, apologies that it took me so long to get something concrete on this one.
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