That’s a helluva lot of executions
Atlus has proudly announced that its popular JRPG franchise,Persona, has hit a milestone of 15 million lifetime product sales.As reported by Persona Central, this figure not only takes into account game sales, but also sales of merchandise such as toys and figurines, as well as pachislot and pachinko machines. While these latter items will certainly provide a big boost to the franchise’s 15 million sales, it’s still a very impressive number.
Frankly, it’s odd to even consider a time when thePersonabrand wasn’t a household name among video game fans, and yet that time did exist. ThePersonaseries, itself a spin-off of the already nicheShin Megami Tenseifranchise, didn’t really find its footing in the west until the 2008 localization ofPersona 3: FES, which tuned a whole new audience into thePersonauniverse thanks to its cool soundtrack, slick visual style, and charismatic cast of rogue teens.
It was the 2016 arrival ofPersona 5, however, that truly sent the series’ popularity into overdrive, with its torrid tale of The Phantom Thieves really capturing the attention of a mainstream global audience, including those who often bypassed the JRPG genre.Persona 5would be used to spearhead a fresh run of games, including new titles in thePersona QandDancing All Nightfranchises, smart musou-likePersona 5 Strikers, and a PC port of 2011’sPersona 4 Golden. WhilePersonahad already been growing in notability for some time,Persona 5truly cemented the brand as an A-lister.
The only way is up, and given the launch of the ninth gen being well underway, it’s impossible to imagine that Atlus, Sega, and P-Studio are not already in pre-production on the next title in this super-cool series. This time, we’llallsee it coming.
