Nick “Shpeshal Nick” Baker has an exciting new rumor for Xbox owners who always wanted to play the Persona games on their chosen platform.
Speaking on the latest Xbox Era podcast, Nick pointed out that he was the only person who shared the rumor that Persona 6 was coming to Xbox. Now, however, he has gone even further.
Nick says he was told by a trusted source via DMs that Persona 6 would be coming Day One to Xbox. He was quite clear that the rumor does not include Game Pass. All the source confirms is that it will be releasing on the first day it releases on any platform.
As we have recently seen, Microsoft has a new relationship with Atlus, which involves their modern Persona games. While a lot of fans would want to credit Xbox head Phil Spencer for this, it’s just as likely that this is an initiative from Sega and Atlus themselves. As we reported all the way back in 2021, Sega found a new interest in making more of their games multiplatform, after the success of Yakuza: Like A Dragon.
This was a divergence from the long running rumor that Persona 6 would be a PlayStation exclusive, but it does mean more than that. If it’s true, then it means a major change in how Atlus handles the Persona franchise itself.
Now, to Sony’s credit, PlayStation was historically a good platform for the Persona games to find their audience. It also pushed Atlus to make HD games that showcased the abilities of each console.
However, the situation has clearly changed in 2023, and to a serious degree. While there are still a lot of fans who remain loyal to PlayStation, Atlus is missing out on making more money by limiting themselves to Sony’s platforms.
Multiplatform is the way third parties make the lion’s share of their money nowadays, big and small games alike. Even when a game like, say, Assassin’s Creed sees the most of their players on PlayStation, it’s not a reason for Ubisoft to stop publishing on Xbox or Steam. On the contrary, that larger share of players on PlayStation does not make enough money to justify making any AAA title. All AAAs have to diversify to stay profitable.
In fact, even PlayStation themselves started publishing their games on PC, because their own games that are meant to help sell the PlayStation 5 don’t make enough money to justify their budgets on the platform.
For Persona, while the game is hugely popular, there is a set limit to how many gamers will be willing to play the game because of genre, style, and other considerations. It goes without saying that more PlayStation owners have God of War: Ragnarok than Persona 5, but if the Persona games were on Xbox, Switch, PC, etc, there’s a bigger opportunity for the franchise to reach more fans and become an even bigger property overall.
It’s all entirely up to Sega. But given how they have been publishing and marketing their recent Persona spinoffs and rereleases, this rumor is absolutely credible.
