The western world was made to wait almost seven months to play Persona 5 back in 2017 after it released in Japan in September of the previous year, and then another five months before Persona 5 Royal launched in European and US territories. And while localisation is a very necessary process, that's a long time to wait. It will be welcome news to fans of developer Atlus then that SEGA wants the team to make simultaneous worldwide launches a goal going forwards.
The news comes from a translated Famitsu interview with SEGA's vice president Shuji Utsumi. He said: "Simultaneous worldwide release on multiple platforms will be a tailwind for titles. Of course we'll make adjustments for each title, but we'd like to be aware of global expansion for Atlus titles as well." Upcoming Nintendo Switch exclusive Shin Megami Tensei V has already been confirmed to be launching at the same time worldwide, but you have to assume Nintendo is lending a helping hand in making that happen. SEGA's hope will be put to the test when the likes of a Persona 6 is ready for release.
Utsumi points towards Yakuza: Like a Dragon as one of the main reasons why Atlus should be trying to launch its games on the same day across the globe. He claims the introduction of Ichiban Kasuga was the most successful entry in the series since everyone could play it on the same day. "Ryu ga Gotoku 7 was the most successful in the series because it was released on multiple platforms with no gap in between." The studio now plans to have simultaneous global launches for all of its future games as a result.
Do you think we could one day see a Persona game launch worldwide on the same? Let's hope it happens in the comments below.
[source ryokutya2089.com, via resetera.com]
Comments 33
Yes. Just yes. Do this.
While I do get the sentiment, it really would be one hell of a commitment to translate into quite a few languages in time for release. There’s always a lot of text with these games and the translations have been spectacular in part because they’ve had that extra time to polish.
I'm all for it. If Atlus has to push a release date back to accommodate for a world wide release than so be it.
We had to wait a long time for a western release anyways.
Also stop releasing DLC as a whole new game please.... even if the DLC is pepper and salt mixed in with the rest of the game.
I dunno. I kind of like how several Japanese titles have been releasing in fully patched form in the West because of their staggered release schedule that allows for the Western version to ship with all the fixes and whatnot from day one.
On the other hand, waiting months for SMT and Persona games is kinda unbearable for me.
And I want Persona Dev Atlus to release Persona 4 Golden on PS4
That confirms it, persona 6 won't get dubbed
Yes this is what atlus should done, like ff15 and ff7 remake. When the western version launched way later after the japanese version, the hype usually already died down.
I want this too
This is all I've ever wanted.
Its 2021. This should absolutely be happening now. SEGA need to give Atlus the resources to ensure that can happen (words are fine, but need to back that up with action).
The staggered releases are so frustrating - particularly given Atlus stuck those annoying recording blockers in Persona 5 so you couldnt even take screenshots most of the time. The game had already been out for ages in Japan so any spoilers had plenty of time to leak out.
Ports of Persona 3 and 4 for PS4/5 would also be great please Atlus. Build on your new found popularity from Persona 5
@Ralizah Yeah, games like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts traditionally had a second release in Japan incorporating the bug fixes and changes made to the western versions. I just wouldn’t want them to commit to a simultaneous release and then end up crunching like mad only for the game to be a bit unpolished as a result. It’s not just English they translate into after all.
I'm all for it if the localization is to the same quality it has been for their last few releases. Sega/Atlus have in my opinion the best localization team of anyone from Japan. We will see how it turns out soon with Lost Judgment and SMT5!
Sounds like good news to me. Now, about that Persona 6…
@mrobinson91 Why P4G isn’t on PS4 is a mystery to me. Same goes for Nintendo Switch. Release it everywhere is what I say!
Why would you hyper link Persona 6 and get me excited that I missed something, only to link to P5R? You're sick.
it would be pretty great to get Persona 6 at the same time as Japan, would also be great if the PC port of Persona 4 Golden was slapped on console as well
@mrobinson91 PREACH!!!
Good luck with that. I don't even believe it for SMTV and they went out of their way to announce that one.
Seeing as the Persona team are currently hard at work on Project RE Fantasy I think P6 is way off.
As for the Worldwide release I hope this means more than Japan/America since Atlus regularly seems to forget about Europe, SMT IV didn't even get a physical release here.
Except that Yakuza LaD came out a full 11 months earlier in Japan on PS4, so it wasn't released to everybody across the globe at the same time 🤷
@Mega-Gazz are you talking about P5R? A new release for that makes sense since they upgraded the engine for ps4 (I believe the used P5D engine) and P5 was made and originally targeted as a PS3 game.
@nessisonett it worked out fine for KH3! They just moved to a DLC episode model, RE:Mind is essentially KH3:FM. Although the non-sale price of both together doesn't reflect this.
@manonfire I still haven’t bought RE:Mind because it’s bloody expensive. That, and the base game massively underwhelmed.
@nessisonett yea, I bit the bullet last sale to play it on crit on the PS5. If you have one I recommend returning because the decreased loading times and 60 fps makes the gameplay alot more enjoyable. Unfortunately they did not redo the entire story lol.
Atlus titles have become popular enough in the West that this makes sense.
Hope they bring games to xbox as well
Persona games have so much text to translate though. It might end up with the game just getting delayed for Japan, which if I was atlus, I wouldn't be happy about because persona is huge there.
@wiiware persona 5 was still super popular here. It reached no. 1 in the UK chart (was is amazing for a JRPG), and physical copies sold out straight away, was impossible to find one for weeks.
@nessisonett I might be wrong but I think worldwide release is only Japanese and English because of how many other countries speak English. They will generally patch subtitles for the the dubs.
This was one of my hopes when SEGA acquired ATLUS. I'm hoping SEGA continues to push them a bit in other ways too, because ATLUS really needs it sometimes.
Weird to use Yakuza 7 as an example because, well... it didn't have a simultaneous worldwide launch. There was also gaps between the different platforms: Japan PS4 in early 2020, Xbox and PC and Western PS4 in late 2020, PS5 in early 2021.
You'd think the big boss man at Sega would know that, but hey.
Yakuza Like a Dragon did not have a global launch, It was released a lot earlier in Japan than it was in the rest of the world
It would be insane for that to happen, but check your greed SEGA, it can't come at the cost of quality.
@Rob_230 I want this to happen so badly!
Especially if they surprised us with Remakes of Persona 1 thru 4.
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