The franchise’s previous milestone was 22.6 million sold by March 5th, 2024. Persona 3 Reload launched the month prior and sold one million in its first week, contributing to that total. Atlus hasn’t revealed updated for the remaster or the impact of its recent story DLC, Episode Aigis – The Answer. However, Sega stated in the report (translation via PersonaCentral) that remasters, spin-offs, and simultaneous global launches across multiple platforms contributed to the sales growth of Persona and Like a Dragon.

It’s safe to assume that Persona 6, rumored to launch next year, could also have a multi-platform launch (possibly including Nintendo’s Switch successor and Xbox) and simultaneous worldwide release. Sega and Atlus haven’t officially confirmed the title’s existence, so stay tuned for further updates in the coming months.

When another user called them Sega’s “Big 3”, she replied, “This is correct information. Like a Dragon, Persona and Sonic are called the Main Pillar Brands at Sega.” She also clarified that it was Persona and not Shin Megami Tensei in a broader sense. However, “There are plans to expand the Shin Megami Tensei brand, and Sega is confident in the upcoming Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance.”

Each IP will reportedly receive new content yearly, with “other media” referring to crossovers and collaborations with other titles. There are even “early plans” for collaborations in upcoming titles like the Crazy Taxi reboot, allegedly a live-service/games-as-a-service title launching in 2027.

As for its big three, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio will host auditions for its next Like a Dragon, and indicated that Like a Dragon Kiwami 3 would happen “sooner or later.” Persona 6 is rumored to launch next year and features a semi-open world with more open Social Links. Alongside the recently announced Sonic Rumble, a remake of Sonic Heroes and a Sonic Frontiers sequel are reportedly in the works. Stay tuned for more details and potential announcements in the coming months.

The current plan at Sega is to make Like a Dragon, Persona and Sonic annual franchises through new titles, remakes and remasters, DLC expansions and other media.

I think this is unannounced information.

— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) May 10, 2024

This is correct information.

Like a Dragon, Persona and Sonic are called the Main Pillar Brands at Sega.

— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) May 10, 2024

Persona.

— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) May 10, 2024

But there are plans to expand the Shin Megami Tensei brand and Sega is confident in upcoming SMTVV title.

— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) May 10, 2024

There will be new content for each IP every year.

— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) May 10, 2024

Yes.

— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) May 10, 2024

And there are early plans for main pillar IPs to have collaborations in upcoming Sega GaaS titles including Crazy Taxi.

— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) May 10, 2024

In the interview, when asked about his decision to leave Atlus and join COLOPL, Kaneko revealed that he was introduced to the opportunity by a career agent. With COLOPL working on a new IP, Kaneko felt that “planning and releasing a game from scratch was very much in line with my work.”

“I’m good at creating IP from scratch, so I thought that was a good match,” he said.

Kaneko joined Atlus in 1988, and across his 35-year tenure, he worked in a number of positions, including character designer, art director, creature designer, and more. His credits include major franchises such as Shin Megami Tensei, Persona, Devil Summoner, and more.

The developer has announced that as of today, March 5, the Persona series has sold a total of 22.6 million units worldwide across all platforms, including all mainline games and their many spinoffs and re-releases.

Of course, that number did receive a recent boost with Persona 3 Reload, which launch last month and sold 1 million units in its first week, becoming Atlus’ biggest launch to date. Atlus has also released a special trailer for the remake to celebrate the series’ latest sales milestone. Check it out below.

A significant portion of the series’ sales are also thanks to Persona 5 and its spinoffs, which have collectively sold over 10 million units to date.

Though Atlus has said that it doesn’t plan to release an expanded version of Persona 3 Reload similar to Persona 4 Golden or Persona 5 Royal, a recent datamining leak suggested that Persona 3 FES’ The Answer will nonetheless be added as DLC, which is something that a hidden easter egg in the remake seems to suggest as well. Meanwhile, leaks have claimed that Atlus is also working on a Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game.

As for what’s next for the series beyond that, if rumours are to be believed, Persona 6 is targeting a 2025 launch, and is going to be a semi-open world experience. Atlus’ parent company Sega has said it expects the game to sell 5 million units in its first year, so clearly, the company has high hopes for Persona.

Talking about the success seen by Sonic the Hedgehog thanks to the movies and the recent slate of games, as well as a host of collaborations, Utsumi talks about the franchise, and how Sonic is being revived.

“We just revived Sonic in a big way, not only through games but also movies and TV shows, and actually Sonic is in Roblox too,” Utsumi said. “And we’re working closely now with Lego. So now Sonic is reviving.”

“We have other major IPs and, I cannot say too much about it but we are thinking of reviving other classical Sega IPs too,” said Utsumi. “Right now there are two big IPs other than Sonic. One is Persona. And also our Yakuza titles. Yakuza is really unique. But that big one is also coming next year too.”

“But also, as I say, we are trying to be in a lot of different kinds of business areas, like Roblox, movies. All these IPs can be somewhere else other than games soon.”

In mentioning Yakuza, Utsumi is, of course, talking about the Like a Dragon franchise, which recently saw its name changed from the traditional Yakuza titles to Like a Dragon with the release of Like a Dragon: Ishin! earlier this year.

Sega is currently gearing up for the release of its next major Like a Dragon game, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. The company is also getting ready to release its next game in the Persona franchise, Persona 3 Reload, which is essentially a complete remake of the original Persona 3.

If that weren’t enough, a new Persona fighting game is reportedly in development. According to insider @MbKKssTBhz5 (better known as Im A Hero Too, who leaked the name for Persona 3 Reload), it’s “changed a lot from 2015. I don’t think it will resemble the original concept. There was a time when people were worried.”

The assumption is that this is a Persona 5 spin-off, and plays like Persona 4 Arena and its follow-up Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. The latter also featured characters from Persona 3, but it remains to be seen if a potential Persona 5 fighting game goes the same route.

In the meantime, Persona 5 Tactica launches on November 17th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch, while also arriving on day one for Game Pass. Head here for more details on the story and here to check out the abilities of Joker, Morgana and newcomer Erina.

Question 1:
Is there a new Persona fighting game?

Answer:
Yes. I did not say it was cancelled. But English is bad, so I understand. But it has changed a lot from 2015. I don’t think it will resemble the original concept. There was a time where people were worried.

— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) July 16, 2023

In a recent press release concerning the announcement of upcoming turn-based tactics title Persona 5 Tactica (spotted by Persona Central), Atlus confirmed that the Persona 5 series has now collectively sold over 9 million units worldwide. That includes the sales of Persona 5, Persona 5 Royal, Persona 5 Strikers, and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight.

As of the end of 2022, the Persona 5 series’ sales stood at 8.3 million units, with the total franchise sales for Persona standing at 16.8 million units. While Atlus hasn’t provided an updated number for the franchise’s total sales, the fact that Persona 5 Royal has continued to sell well since it launched for additional platforms last year would suggest that that figure stands at close to 18 million units or thereabouts. That, in turn, would also suggest that the Persona 5 series accounts for roughly half of the entire franchise’s sales.

Persona 5 Tactica is set to launch on November 17 for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Meanwhile, Persona 3 Reload will release in early 2024.

The “multifaceted rollout” for the series includes toys, pachislot and pachinko machines, packaged titles, digital titles and so on. While this represents a difference of 500,000 sales from the fiscal year ending March 2021, the Persona 5 series is worth noting. Its four titles – Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, Persona 5, Persona 5 Royal, and Persona 5 Strikers – have sold 7.22 million units cumulatively.

They make up 46.6 percent of the franchise’s total sales, with 77 percent generated by overseas consumers. Since Persona 5 Royal recently released for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch, sales could be even higher heading into next year. It was last reported to have sold 1.8 million units as of June 2021.

Speaking recently during a livestream, Spanish magazine Manual’s editor Nacho Requena (via VGC) claimed that based on what he knows a Nintendo Direct presentation is indeed coming on Tuesday, June 28.

According to Requena, the presentation will be focused primarily on third party titles, and the Persona series, which was recently confirmed to be coming to Xbox and PC, will also be present- though which Persona games exactly will show up remains to be seen. Recent rumours have claimed that Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden at the very least will be headed to the Switch as well, and that Persona 5 Royal might also follow suit.

Meanwhile, Requena also claims that the Direct presentation will also feature the announcement of a Switch port of a third party title that has been available on other platforms for about four years. Looking back to 2018, there aren’t a great many major third party games that aren’t also available on the Switch at this point, though one of the biggest ones that remains unavailable on the platform is Red Dead Redemption 2.

Another game that’s expected to show up at the presentation is Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. That’s according to prominent insider Tom Henderson, who claimed the same on Twitter and said it’s set for a gameplay reveal.

The turn-based tactics title, developed and published by Ubisoft, is technically a third party game in spite of its usage of the Mario license. Announced last year with a 2022 release window, Ubisoft said earlier this year that it would be out by the end of the current fiscal year, with rumours pegging it for a Holiday 2022 launch.

Interestingly, recently, Tactics Ogre: Reborn was also leaked thanks to a listing on the PlayStation Store, prior to which a trademark listing for the same was also spotted. The Tactics Orge IP has been associated with Nintendo platforms in the past, so there’s a chance that that ends up getting announced.

Of course, none of this is officially confirmed at this point, so it’s best to tread with caution, especially since this is the notoriously unpredictable Nintendo we’re dealing with. We’ll keep an eye out for new updates though, so stay tuned.

It sounds like there's a mini direct focusing on third part games – https://t.co/U9Iable9gC

What I was referring to here as "something then" is Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope gameplay reveal. https://t.co/qFWWhXZxrn

— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) June 25, 2022

Atlus recently announced that 2022’s Persona Super Live concert has been set for October 8 and October 9. As always, the concert will feature live performances of fan-favourite songs from across the series, but these concerts have often also been the stage where Atlus has chosen to announce new games in the series over the years.

Both Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal, for instance, were first announced at Persona Super Live concerts, as were spinoffs such as Persona Q: Shadow: Shadow of the Labyrinth, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, Persona 5 Strikers, and Persona 4: Dancing All Night.

There’s no shortage of rumours and leaks surrounding the Persona franchise that could materialize at this event (or so fans will be hoping, at least). We know for a fact that Persona 6 is currently in the works, while leaks have also mentioned a Persona 5 spinoff starring Goro Akechi, a multiplatform Persona 3 Portable remaster, and Nintendo Switch and PS4 versions of Persona 4 Golden.