Atlus has been very busy this year, but that hasn’t stopped them from pursuing any future projects. In fact, they’re working on a good chunk of them, as Managing Director Naoto Hiraoka revealed in an interview with Famitsu that they have 5-6 internal IPs that are underway, and if you include the collaborations with developer Vanillaware, that brings the total count to ten. On top of that, Hiraoka also revealed that they are planning on holding special Persona events in and outside of their native Japan, as well as delivering “some surprises in the future.”
This interview comes out less than a week when Atlus launched their Persona 25th Anniversary website and confirmed that they were working on 7 new projects for the franchise. It wasn’t made clear if the aforementioned 7 were part of those additional ones mentioned in the interview, but it’s more than likely that both stories are related to each other. While it is only rumor, many fans had already been speculating that the company is working on the next entry in the series, Persona 6. Another ongoing rumor is the remaster of Arc System Works’ Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, which to date is one of the few rare titles not to have been brought over to the current console generation.
One title that we know is coming this year is Shin Megami Tensei 5, which is slated to launch on November 12 exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. Another game that Atlus is working on is Project Re Fantasy, which is being developed by the same team from Persona 5. According to Hiraoka, the project is making progress “little by little.” As for the titles with Vanillaware, it’s anyone’s guess as to what they’re currently working on. The developer has worked with Atlus a number of times to publish their titles, including the classic JRPG Oden Sphere in 2006, and the recently released 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim.
Only time will tell to see what Atlus has in store for us, especially with those planned Persona events outside of Japan. Normally they would pertain to musical concerts reserved for their native country, but due to the exploding popularity of the series in recent years, it’s very possible that Atlus will bring the concerts our way. The actual Persona 25 Anniversary is this September, and we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled when the company inevitably unveils its surprises.