A recent article by South Korean outlet Global Economic highlights that Microsoft is receiving criticism and unfavorable comparisons to Sony and Nintendo for repeatedly leaving out Korean language support for first-party releases.
The most recent such example is The Outer Worlds 2, developed by Xbox Game Studios’ Obsidian Entertainment. The title was recently announced for a 2025 release, but none of its store listings currently mention Korean language support at launch. Interestingly, the first game – 2019’s The Outer Worlds – included Korean subtitles from day one. This apparent shift in attitude has been discouraging for Korean users of the platform.
Global Economic reached out to Xbox to inquire about Korean language support for the sequel, who responded that they have “nothing to announce at the moment.” Currently, The Outer Worlds 2 is listed as available for the Korean region, but does not support the language.
Microsoft’s localization policy already came under fire in 2023, when Bethesda Softworks released its brand-new IP Starfield without official Korean support. This move was especially criticized given that the game’s marketing was largely conducted in Korean, creating the impression of false advertising. What’s more, the game itself includes Korean motifs like Chapaguri (food item) and The Haemosu (ship name based on Korean mythology), which further fueled Korean gamers’ dissatisfaction about being left out. Even with the release of its Shattered Space expansion behind it, Starfield still has no official language support for Korean.
On the other hand, Avowed, which was released in February this year, was initially supposed to get Korean language support within a month of its launch, but this has since been delayed to as late as August.
According to Global Economic, Microsoft’s approach to localization “stands in stark contrast” to competitors like Sony and Nintendo, whose major first-party releases until now have included Korean language support. The platform’s neglect of South Korea is considered unusual given that the country is the 4th largest gaming market in the world. It is worth pointing out, however, that although Korea indeed holds a large share in the global gaming market, it only accounts for about 1.5% of global console revenue (source: GamesIndustry.biz), with online and mobile gaming being far more widespread – this could be a possible reason holding Microsoft back from investing in Korean localization.
However, this approach appears to have negatively impacted Xbox’s popularity in the country, as KOCCA (Korea Creative Content Agency)’s surveys reveal that the Xbox’s share in Korea’s console market fell from 17.8% to 10.9% between 2023 and 2024.
