Atlus' announcements of Persona 3 Reload and Persona 5 Tactica have garnered much attention over the last few weeks, serving as the newest iterations among the series' repertoire. While the titles were first officially unveiled at the Xbox Games Showcase, it appears that the two share a beneficial similarity that could inform the debut of Persona 6. Both games are set to make a day one multi-platform release, helping to bring their stories to a wider audience.
The Persona series began on the PlayStation with Revelations: Persona, debuting for Japanese and Western audiences in 1996. In the years following, the Persona 2 duology would release on the same platform, with Persona 3 and 4 marking the series' advancement to the PlayStation 2 console in 2006 and 2008 respectively. Eight years later, Persona 5 made its debut for the PS3 and PS4, following in the series' fondness for Sony consoles. One might imagine that Persona 6 would continue in the trend, though the announcements of Persona 3 Reload and Persona 5 Tactica may indicate a new plan.
Persona 6 Could See a Day One Multi-Platform Release
Recent years have seen a surplus of Persona ports, marking a newfound level of accessibility for the series. Following the leap of popularity brought forth by Persona 5, Atlus has cleverly sought to bring the series' titles to a range of PC and console players. Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden received this treatment, as did Persona 5 Royal, the all-encompassing enhanced edition of the original, breathing further life into its mainline entries. The same approach has extended to a few of the series' spin-off titles, including Persona 4 Arena Ultimax and Persona 5 Strikers, though the latter has yet to see an Xbox debut.
Given Tactica's place as Persona 5's newest spin-off, its multi-platform availability could point towards a newfound resolution by the company to keep even its offshoot titles accessible across audiences. The same can be said for Persona 3 Reload as a mainline remake, though a Switch release has not been officially confirmed. While retroactive ports have been a staple among the series, the inclusion of day one multi-platform releases could indicate that Atlus seeks to utilize this approach for the foreseeable future; the announcement of Metaphor: ReFantazio may cement this point, as it too, will be made available across PC, Xbox, and PlayStation platforms.
Persona 6 has not been given an official announcement yet, leaving fans to speculate over how long the game's development time will run. Given that there has been no concrete news on its release, it could very well be a few more years until the title is made available to the masses. With Persona 3 Reload and Persona 5 Tactica bridging the gap between Persona 5 and the next mainline entry, there is the possibility that the game could debut towards the end of the current-gen cycle.
Though it is uncertain when the title will release, the trend demonstrated through Atlus' newer games could inform a day one multi-platform release for Persona 6, at least across Playstation and Xbox consoles. This would certainly make sense given the higher breadth of RPGs being developed for Xbox in recent years, which aligns well with the console diversity across Persona's fanbase. Such a trait could be a boon to the game's release, allowing multiple audiences to experience the game at the same time. With the series' track record of compelling narratives and richly developed worlds, this approach could be crucial towards Persona 6's reception.
Persona 6 is currently in development.
