September 2021 will kick off a year filled to the brim withPersonanews. Atlus promised such a year in the name of the franchise’s 25th anniversary, and although it took a while, Atlus is finally ready to fulfill that promise. With a staggering 7Personatopics to cover, the franchise is about to enter a period of aggressive expansion. It only seems right that Atlus doubles down ontheShin Megami Tenseispinoff seriesnow thatPersona 5has claimed a massive international audience. Release dates for these projects are impossible to predict until they’re revealed, but at least fans have a timeline for when they’ll start finding out exactly what Atlus is planning.
One topic that’s harder to address isPersona 6.Interestingly, Atlus acknowledged that it’s working onPersona 6recently, but didn’t indicate that it’s part of the impending cycle of announcements. On the contrary, it looks likely thatPersona 6has little to nothing to do with the new wave ofPersonaprojects. When, then, can fans expect Atlus to speak up aboutPersona 5’s successor? Based on Atlus' comments onPersona 6so far, it could actually be quite a while beforePersonafans get a better picture of the long-anticipated game.
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Persona’s History of Long Development
WhenAtlus acknowledged that it’s working onPersona 6,it didn’t say that it’s close to revealing the game properly. On the contrary, Atlus said that developingPersona 6is an uphill climb that requires a lot of extra resources. It’s determined to surpassPersona 5,in spite of how wildly influentialPersona 5is. Atlus is currently in the process of expanding itself so that it has enough talent on board to makePersona 6live up to its own expectations. Development isn’t far along, which stands in contrast to old rumors that the game has been in development for a few years now.
While that suggests thatPersona 6has a long development ahead of it still, that wouldn’t be so strange.Personaactually has a history of releasing games pretty sporadically. While only two years passed between the release ofPersona 3andPersona 4,a full eight years went by before Atlus releasedPersona 5afterPersona 4.Similarly, and there are about six years between thePersona 2duology andPersona 3.Atlus tends to take its time withPersonagames, especially when thePersonaformula is undergoing major changes.Persona 6might need five or six yearsto perfect the necessary formula to follow up onPersona 5.
After all, that’s whyP2andP3as well asP4andP5have such big gaps between each other.Persona 3totally changedPersona’s aesthetics from a gritty apocalyptic series much moreakin toShin Megami Tensei’s sensibilitiesto a colorful franchise exploring themes of friendship and social bonds. Similarly,Persona 5introduced huge changes toPersonasocial sim elements and made a lot of adjustments to the conceit and environments ofPersona.The only known design philosophy being applied toPersona 6is Atlus' desire to improve uponPersona 5.That’ll certainly require a couple of years of careful examination, meaningPersona 6updates could be years away.
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Persona 5’s Victory Lap Keeps Extending
It should also be acknowledged that recent Atlus projects have potentially slowed downPersona 6’s development.Persona 5 Royal, the extended edition introducing fans toTakuto Maruki and Kasumi Yoshizawa, made a ton of changes that more than justified its release three years after the originalPersona 5.There’s alsoPersona 5 Strikersto bear in mind, which is an entirely new game starring the Phantom Thieves that doubtless ate up a lot of Atlus' attention. There are also side projects like thePersona 5dancing game to factor in.
All thesePersona 5spinoffs add up to a ton of extra resources devoted to the Phantom Thieves that aren’t being devoted toPersona 6.Atlus' relentless concentration onPersona 5in the last few years suggests thatPersona 6hasn’t been a priority until very recently.Persona 5certainly deserved all the extra attention, and it’s been worth it.Persona 5 Royalputs a deeply moving spin on the central narrative ofPersona 5,andPersona 5 Strikersdoes well to furtherthe Phantom Thieves' character developmentwhile experimenting with a new genre. Atlus keeps reaping benefits from focusing onPersona 5,which means it’s had the motive to avoid buckling down onPersona 6for years.
It’s worth acknowledging that all the extraPersona 5content isn’t solely responsible for slowing downPersona 6.In fact, Atlus has a lot on its plate right now, and it has for a while. ThePersona 4 Goldenremaster for PC must’ve taken up a fair amount of attention, as didShin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne HD Remaster.In the same vein, Atlus has the brand newShin Megami Tensei 5to worry about. On top of all these important games, it’s pulling out all the stops for thePersonaanniversary.Persona 6has too much competition within Atlus to be anywhere near a major announcement.
Persona 6 Will Arrive in Due Time
If fans should look to anything asa glimmer of hope forPersona 6news, Atlus' statement about the game should actually give them that hope. Even though it indicates that the game needs time, the statement itself is a remarkable gesture of transparency on Atlus' part. It’s possible that this initial statement could lead to more small updates that don’t reveal anything explicit aboutPersona 6while still giving fans a sense of howPersona 6is doing in development. Regular check-ins leading up to a properPersona 6announcement in a couple of years would be great.
On the whole, though, it looks likePersonafans should temper their expectations. It could be a couple of years before Atlus reveals anything concrete aboutPersona 6.Atlus simply has too many projects on its plate to suddenly get enough done to revealPersona 6. There’s no sign that the game will release anytime soon. As disappointing as that is, at least Atlus is prepared to accommodate fans in the meantime. The wealth ofPersonareveals that kickoff in September promises that there’ll be enoughmedia in thePersonaIPto keep fans invested in this universe untilPersona 6is done. As far as consolation prizes go, thePersonaanniversary looks like a pretty good one.
Persona 6is in development.
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