
Japanese video game companies are becoming more and more aware of how important worldwide operations can be — especially since traditional homes consoles like the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 thrive outside of Japan. We're now at a point where publishers such as Square Enix, Capcom, and SEGA are making a very deliberate effort to expand their reach, emphasising things like global release dates, and hosting digital events that are promoted here in the West.
And Atlus is keen to stress just how key this global approach is. In the company's latest financial report, it emphasises the success of overseas sales, particularly for the Persona franchise. The report states that Persona 5 Royal has now shipped over 1.8 million copies, while Persona 5 Strikers sits at 1.3 million copies. Together with the original Persona 5 — which had sold more than 3.2 million units last we heard — the Phantom Thieves have clearly stolen a lot of hearts.
Hopefully this means that the inevitable Persona 6 will enjoy a worldwide release date, so that we don't have to avoid spoilers for months on end. At least the signs are positive, since parent company SEGA is doing a global launch for Lost Judgment later this year. How times have changed for the better!
[source atlus.co.jp, via rpgsite.net]
Comments 40
I'm hoping they rerelease Persona 3 and 4 on the PS4/PS5. Persona 4 is already on PC, should be easy to port. I was just playing Persona 3 FES on my PS2 the other day at my parents' house. It's such a good game but I don't need another console in my apartment. I'd rebuy it again in a heartbeat.
Imagine the sales if it also would be on Switch and PC. Also why isn't P4G on PS4/5 and Switch yet since it's already been ported to PC?
@mariomaster96 Probably the same reasons new SMT games aren't coming to PS4/PS5. Atlus don't care and they always go for one platform.
It's strange that they haven't ported Persona 5 to PC/Switch already, I mean I doubt Sony has given Sega a single cent so what's stopping them 🤔 Oh and I happily contributed to each of those great games sales on day one!
@MKD88 That would be awesome, but they'd charge full price for it. And it wouldn't be updated at all. And it would probably cost extra to get the full FES version of 3 and the Golden version of 4. Because Atlus.
Wish they would put P4 on PS4/5
I'm responsible for 2 of those sales, but still haven't played it yet. Backlog is long and this being a 100+ hour game I keep passing on it. One day!
@themightyant Honestly you'll be hard pressed to find a more enjoyable 100 hours in gaming
They were tweeting earlier that Persona 4 Golden moved 1million copies on Steam. My reaction to that was "it that it?"
The PC crowd were begging for Persona games for over a decade, you'd think there's be more sold than that considering they state that PC and Steam has the biggest userbase in gaming.
I guess they really didn't want it that much since they were stating that Steam sales would trump PlayStation because they are the "true Persona fans" and "master race" and all that.
It takes 1 look at the weekly Japanese sales to know why. It is completely monotone.
3rd party know they needs to follow Sony West (and paying off). Microsoft knew this years ago.
@GADG3Tx87 I hadn't seen the p4 sales numbers yet but that is disgustingly low.... I know p5 strikers isn't a full on persona game either in a way but for that to be outsold by the complete p5 edition whilst that's only available on one platform makes me realize why they bother with only developing it for the ps platform.
900,000 sales of P4G on Steam is actually pretty disappointing. I'm pretty sure P4G sold a million-ish copies on Vita, and that was the Vita.
That said, Atlus has pretty typically relied on a small passionate fanbase instead of trying to appeal to as many people as possible. So you have people like me that have bough all of the mainline Persona games multiple times, as well as almost all of the spinoffs.
On a side note: I am glad Persona 5 Royal has outsold the original Persona 5. The original version should be wiped from stores so no one makes that mistake. Royal is so much better than the original in every way.
I hope atlus remake previous persona game using persona 5 engine, 4K persona 4 will sells a lot on ps5 I think
They would have way higher sales figures if they also sold their games on other platforms. PC and Switch are simply obvious platforms for this series to break series records.
@patronmacabre On a side note: I am glad Persona 5 Royal has outsold the original Persona 5. The original version should be wiped from stores so no one makes that mistake. Royal is so much better than the original in every way.
I know a lot of people felt that way but I thought the changes made the game way to easy. Even on merciless. I loved the first game and think it had it's place. Without it you wouldn't have royal. Also, preferred the original ending.
@kiki3400 I know it's prob not realistic for most people, but I feel you need to play the original to fully appreciate what's going on with the new parts of Royal. Though hard to talk further about it without big spoilers.
Still hoping one day for Atlus to bring P4G to ps4 and maybe a Persona 3 FES remaster.
@AgentMantis I hear that a lot, and appreciate the prod. I am looking forward to it but I’m always a year+ behind with a huge backlog. Just playing, and loving, Ghost of Tsushima right now, then probably Last of Us 2. I’ll get there… one day
Such an odd move from Atlus since they didn't port to the current PS hardware first but PC? As many people who missed the chance to experience it on the Vita, I would like to play it. What is the point of leaving the PS players out of this lol. Hoping that Atlus will someday consider releasing the Persona collection from 1-4 for the PS system since I want replay P3 again. Amazing game but gets stuck in a 20 years old system. I'm sure many people would love to play all the titles from the past till now.
Persona fans definitely...saw-this-comiiinngggg!
Congrats to Atlus!
Now please tease us with an image of Persona 6 - like a color scheme and any sort of item to give us a hint of something.
(I'm thinking they'd go with Green this time)
@Balosi Agree 100%. I liked the new characters and some of the gameplay tweaks but yeah maybe because I have played P5og 4 times and I know the game like the back of my hand. I found Royal way easy. Enjoyed getting out at night though! lolol
@strawhatcrew I am so ready for P6. I want a new story, new school, new town, new characters. So ready, come already ATLUS!!!!
I'm honestly still baffled Atlus have been sitting on multiplatform ports of the other games. P5R being as huge as it is on PS4 alone would make bank on PC, Switch or even Xbox. I'd buy a P3 remaster with Portable's content and FES' presentation in a heartbeat if it wasn't half-assed like Nocturne HD. Persona 1 and 2 are pretty much mostly inaccessible without emulation and it's a shame since I think the latter is the best mainline game in terms of story
I'm not expecting Persona 6 stuff until SMT V is out the door or about to come out but they should really get their back catalogue more out there, especially in the cases of the Japan exclusive stuff like the first two SMTs
@patronmacabre P4G has sold 1.5 million copies on Vita but it took a LONG time to get there. It barely crossed the 1.5 mil. mark a month after P4G launched on Steam
Nearly a million in a year for a PC port of an 8 year old Vita game, that's a port of a 13 year old PS2 game in of itself is pretty impressive when you think about it.
Lol P5R had about the same amount of sales as P4G did on pc during the same time frame and it was a rerelease of a ps4 game on ps4 again. It's also $60 and when it goes on sale it never dips to P4Gs price which also went on sale during this time as if it wasn't already cheap enough
We wouldve been seeing those milestone tweets way sooner and this financial report would've reported a bigger number if they had released P4G on ps4 instead. But still happy for this series' success. I'm dying to see P6 or at least Project Re Fantasy already
@Judal27 Well another thing to consider is that P5R got a massive headstart considering unlike P4G which was a simultaneous worldwide launch on PC, P5R came out months in advance in Asian territories before it even came to the West, which is probably why it managed to reach that mark more quickly
@GADG3Tx87 Well, now you've figured out what most people take for granted, a loud group of people doesn't necessarily equal a majority of people.
@TheFrenchiestFry Impressive to sell a million in a year with a lot of heavy discounts for a platform the has millions upon millions for it's user base? No, it's not.
They do need to bring the other Persona games to other consoles/PC.
The series is just so good and more people need to enjoy it.
@RawnDawn I haven't seen P4G really get discounted a ton outside one or two publisher sales and the Steam Awards sale. In fact the ongoing Summer sale is like the first time I've seen that game discounted since that other sale
This is a thing with all SEGA games really but it's still notable considering how old at this point Golden is, and especially because it's not even the current latest main entry or anything, which is way more popular
Like others have alluded to, releasing most, if not all, games on the switch would be a no brainer. Considering how popular jrpgs and the switch are, in Japan. I'm honestly shocked that strikers is sitting so low, considering it's multiplat. I guess persona is more niche, than I thought.
I can't wait for Persona 5 Imperial with yet another character and semester (joke aside, I'd be tempted to buy it)
@TheFrenchiestFry oh no I didn't mean from launch till now. I meant from the last time they mentioned numbers which was in July for both. So according to the report, they both did around 400k since then. That's Royal keeping up with a game as loved as Golden is that goes on sale for literally less than $20 in the same time frame
Meanwhile... Trails games take 3 years to be localised. :/
@patronmacabre
@jcboyer515 Oh my bad, I misread the article. I subtracted 1.8 million from 3.2 million and incorrectly thought the original version of Persona 5 sold 1.4 million copies.
@TheFrenchiestFry Just checked and yeah, you're right.
It's only been on sale 6 or so times but in my opinion it's still not impressive that it only sold 1milion copies despite it being "old".
I don't know, I guess the outcry for the game to go on other platforms and it's cheap price on release yet only selling that much? I guess I was just expecting those numbers to be higher.
Still, glad it at least came out on steam and is doing okay.
Edit: You know what, it actually is impressive it even sold that much. I forgot you can torrent games on PC plus it being a JRPG limits it's reach for the general audience.
@RawnDawn I think it's just the outcry for Persona in general to go to other platforms. Atlus for as much as I love their games, they've always done some really wack decisions when it comes to stuff like their DLC practices and especially their stance on games being multiplatform. Especially for a game like P4G it honestly made no sense to keep that thing on Vita. Considering JRPGs actually do pretty well for themselves when brought to PC it only made sense, and now Atlus definitely knows that people will play the games they want if they're more readily available. I think the only reason Nocturne HD isn't doing as well has to do more with the quality of the remaster itself rather than the fact people don't care that Nocturne's on PC
@PhhhCough A lot of people, particularly on Switch and PC could potentially be alienated by the fact Strikers marketed itself as a direct sequel to P5, being that that is a game not available on said platforms, which is probably why it's not doing as well. The PC version from what I've seen is actually doing fine but the numbers for Switch specifically seem to be pretty average. Not helping things is that it's also a spinoff, and those by default just don't bring in the numbers of main entries. I don't recall P4 Arena blowing up either, nor the Q games on 3DS
@TheFrenchiestFry Funny how the outcry seems to be only for the Persona series, but not for the Shin Megami Tensei series.
If they are thinking on releasing the Persona series into other platforms in the future, then it is only fair for them to release the Shin Megami Tensei series into other platforms as well. Don't do one, but not the other.
"...Bring Persona 5 to Switch/PC, but also bring Shin Megami Tensei V to PS4/PS5/PC..."
@rpg2000 SMT V is definitely off the table now. It looks like Nintendo is actually handling publishing duties in specific regions like Europe, and according to the game's producer Kazuyuki Yamai (SMT IV director) they specifically targeted Switch from the beginning because of both its capability for HD graphics and nature as a hybrid console. At least other platforms got Nocturne HD
Also you can't really ridicule the outcry for Persona being larger. Persona is by far the much larger franchise, although I am seeing some portbegging starting to pop up on social media over SMT V being released on Sony platforms now so there is that
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