Today, Atlus revealed that Soul Hackers 2, the sequel to their 1997 JRPG Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, will be released on Aug. 25, 2022, in Japan and Aug. 26, 2022, internationally. It’s been 25 years since Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers was released exclusively in Japan for the Sega Saturn, and 13 years since the game was ported to the Nintendo 3DS for international audiences in 2013, which is still available for purchase on the Nintendo 3DS eShop before it closes down.
Before Soul Hackers 2’s trailer was released, Atlus created a Twitter account and countdown website for the game, which later became the game’s official Japanese website. There was also live stream event that introduced the game with a live-action sequence, where actors dressed as the game’s characters were fighting enemies.
According to Gematsu’s translation of Soul Hackers 2’s Japanese website, the game will place sometime in the future within the 21st century, where Devil Summoners live in societies and harness supernatural powers. Aion, a sentinel being who watches over humanity, discovers that the world will soon experience ruin. The game will follow Ringo, an agent of Aion who can “Soul Hack” her targets to revive them, as she fights alongside the Devil Summoners to prevent the world’s ruin.
The website also revealed that Soul Hackers 2’s development team includes staff from previous Atlus and Shin Megami Tensei games, such as production manager Shinjirou Takata (Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor series, Shin Megami Tensei V, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE), producer Eiji Ishida (Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers, Shin Megami Tensei V), and director Mitsuru Hirata (Radiant Historia, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE). Production team Monaca will handle the game’s soundtrack, and manga artist Shirow Miwa will be the leading character designer for this game.
An exclusive 25th Anniversary Edition for Soul Hackers 2 will be available in Japan, which comes with an anniversary music album, anniversary book, figure, and DLC. Preorders in Japan will also feature Persona 5 DLC, which includes character costumes and the main theme song from the game available to use during battles.
The game will also include English and Japanese voiceovers, along with English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish subtitles. Soul Hackers 2 will release on PC (Steam), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. There’s no news yet if the game will release for the Nintendo Switch.