Used to be thatPersonagames were very niche JRPG titles, only attracting the hardcore fans with each successive entry. But withPersona 4and especiallyPersona 5, the series has soared in popularity around the world. Especially with western audiences,Persona 5got a lot of love from critics and fans alike, and ended up on a lot of “best JRPGs of all time” lists as a result. Ever sincePersonaestablished its unique identity of social simulator + dungeon crawling JRPG, the franchise has grown immensely from its original existence as aMegami Tenseispinoff series.
Now with the definitivePersona 5 Royalout in the world, there’s almost certainly a sixth game on the horizon, as Atlus seemingly teased its existence just recently. With this newfound popularity,Personashould move to a simultaneous worldwide release for its next title. BothPersona 4andPersona 5have proven enough that the series' popularity has evolved around the world, especially in western audiences like the US. It only makes sense now that fans around the world should share in the joy ofPersonaat the same time.
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Persona’s Explosion in Popularity
Such explosive popularity forPersonarealistically began withPersona 3andPersona 4, but truly came to a head withPersona 5. The fifthPersonagame was meant to be both a 20th anniversary celebration as well as an evolution for the series. It had been about eight years sincePersona 4’s release, andPersona 5came out to near universal acclaim. Everything great about thePersonaseries, like the social links/relationships, strategic turn-based combat, and JRPG dungeon crawling was honed and improved with the Phantom Thieves.Persona 5(andPersona 5 Royal)has solidified itself as not only thehighest sellingPersonagame, but the greatest selling game from the wholeMegami Tenseifranchise.
Persona 5, at least in the west, also received a very important boost from an unlikely ally,Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,which added theprotagonist ofPersona 5, Joker, as a playable fighter.SSBU’s game director, Masahiro Sakurai, was particularly enthralled byPersona 5that he had specifically requested a collaboration which lead to Joker joiningSmash Bros. Ultimate’s roster. TheSuper Smash Bros.series had done something similar with its ownFire Emblemfranchise inSuper Smash Bros. Meleewhen Marth and Roy were added to the roster. Marth and Roy served as an indirect gauge forFire Emblem’s popularity in western audiences, which eventually lead toFire Emblem: The Blazing Bladereleasing for North America on the Game Boy Advance.
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Future Persona Releases
Thanks to this huge boost in popularity, Atlus should consider a simultaneous worldwide release for the nextPersonaentry. Every singlePersonagame has released in Japan first, and was eventually localized to western markets later on. Especially now, withPersona 5 Royalreaching “record” sales numbers in the US and Europe, it only makes sense for futurePersonatitles to have a simultaneous worldwide release. Considering the series' global popularity andAtlus recognizing that with fan feedback surveys, it’d be perfect forPersona’s accessibility to the world, along with some exterior affects like dodging spoilers and problems with inadvertent exclusivity.
Plenty of other JRPGs and other genres of games have followed this trend of simultaneous worldwide releases over time. Fans of theKingdom Heartsseries were big proponents ofa simultaneous worldwide release in the lead up toKingdom Hearts 3, especially considering most fans had been waiting over a decade for the third entry. A similar situation occurred withFire Emblemover time as Nintendo’s signature strategy game series steadily grew in popularity in western markets. NowPersonais seeing a similar apex of popularity withPersona 5 Royal, meaning it should be time for the team at Atlus to consider a western release as pivotal to the fanbase.
Here’s to hoping in the futurePersonagames have simultaneous worldwide releases in the future.Fans are especially sensitive to spoilers, and when there’s literally months of time between the Japanese and North American release dates, avoiding spoilers is even harder. Plus it eliminates the problem of some players taking some nefarious methods like spoofing Japanese accounts to get the game early.
