Highlights

  • Persona 5: The Phantom X could expand globally, as Sega considers future release in Japan and worldwide.
  • The spin-off features a new character named Wonder, gatcha system, and a popular rhythm-based mini-game.
  • With Persona 5's success and numerous spin-offs, The Phantom X's eventual global availability seems likely.

A spin-off of Persona 5 that was originally planned for release only in China could be getting a global release at some point in the future. The game, titled Persona 5: The Phantom X, is currently only available in mainland China, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.

Launching regionally on April 18, 2024, Persona 5: The Phantom X is a free-to-play mobile and PC game the follows the balance of dungeon crawling and social life established in mainline Persona titles. Though it is another entry in the long line of Persona 5 spin-offs that have sprung up after the original game's massive success, the game takes a step away from Joker as the main character, instead having the player control a new student character that they can name, codenamed Wonder. However, like Persona 5, this game continues to encourage the player to build relationships with Confidants in the real world and has them fighting in turn-based Metaverse battles in Palaces and Mementos.

persona 3 reload art with persona 1 and 2 logos
Related
Persona 1 and 2's Rumored Remakes Face a Fork in the Road

With Persona 1 and 2 remakes, Atlus will have to make some tough decisions about how faithful the new versions should be to the original games.

News of the game possibly getting a global release comes through a results presentation report from Sega, released on May 10, 2024. The report's notes on Persona 5: The Phantom X are very brief, but they mention the game's regional launch date, state that the game is "Starting off as expected," and most importantly for western Persona fans, say that a "Future expansion in Japan and global is under consideration." Earlier in the year, before the game's launch, there had already been rumors that Persona 5: The Phantom X would be released outside of China as originally planned, and while the open beta was limited to China only, the other four subregions were granted access to the game on the official launch day.

The Phantom X Made Other Changes to Persona 5

The new main character isn't the only thing setting Persona 5: The Phantom X apart from the game it spawned from. The game also follows a gatcha-based system for acquiring new characters, and its rhythm-based guitar mini-game has garnered positive attention from fans.

Elsewhere in the report, it mentions that Persona 5 and its various spin-offs — which span multiple genres and include Persona 5 Tactica, Persona 5 Strikers, and Persona 5: Dancing in the Starlight — have accumulated sales of more than 10 million units. With the way that Sega and its subsidiary Atlus have been capitalizing on Persona 5's success since the game's original launch in 2013, coupled with the recent statement in the report from Sega, it seems more and more likely that Persona 5: The Phantom X will be available to mobile and PC players around the world eventually.