Since its inception as a Shin Megami Tensei spin-off series in 1996, the Persona series struggled to find success in the west. This was largely in part to the series being considered niche, and the fact that publisher Atlus had a rough time publishing the games outside of Japan and North America. In the past decade however, thanks to major releases such as Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5, the Persona series has gone on to become one of the biggest and most influential JRPG franchises on the planet, and thanks to this success, Atlus has now reported that recent titles such as Persona 5 Royal and the currently Japanese-only Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers have both succeeded the company's sales expectations during its last fiscal year.
While the company did not elaborate or disclose sales figures for either title, it comes as no surprise that both Persona 5 Royal and Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers have seen major success, as the Persona 5 sub-series has only continued to grow since the original Japanese release of the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 versions in September 2016. Persona 5 Royal has also gone on to surpass the company's sales expectations in North America, Europe, and Asia during the fiscal year ending March 31st, 2020.
While Persona 5 Scramble has not yet seen a release outside of Japan, the company also stated that it performed above financial expectations upon its initial release of February of this year. Additionally, the company also mentioned that Vanillaware's 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, which released in Japan in November 2019, also performed above expectations. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim will launch in North America and Europe on September 8th 2020.
The company's financial report does not make mention of recent Atlus releases such as Catherine: Full Body for Nintendo Switch, or Persona 4 Golden, which released on Steam last month, almost instantly becoming one of the most successful JRPGs ever released on the service. This is likely because they are part of the company's current fiscal year, which ends March 31st, 2021.
Persona 5 Royal is out now, exclusively on PlayStation 4.
Source: Persona Central
