Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a hit with critics, though it certainly faces some marketing challenges in the West with both its gameplay elements and style. Lee Kirton, U.K. marketing and PR director at Namco Bandai Partners, admits this is an issue but still thinks there’s plenty for a Western audience to like.

“Our games are very fan focused the majority of the time, so working closely with the fans is important to us,” explains Lee Kirton, UK marketing and PR director at Namco Bandai Partners. “We don’t just throw hundreds of thousands of pounds at TV or cinema [advertising], but we truly evaluate who are market is, how to engage with our markets effectively and how to really push word of mouth. We are very used to not marketing the ‘obvious’ western title so we focus heavily on PR, video content, fan engagement, community, targeted spend online, special editions, competitions, events and debates.”

“Many fans in Europe appreciate Japanese development, Japanese titles, and RPGs, and we are working hard to build this market in the U.K.” he added. “But you’re always going to get a gamer that just wants to shoot things, and many that want to play action adventures. Ni No Kuni (putting the name and studio aside) is actually a very western RPG action-adventure which has had some amazing localization. I believe it’s a market that will grow over time as the industry changes, however it’s always going to be tougher to convince some gamers to try something new, and that’s just the way it is.”

Source: GamesIndustry International