For as long as I’ve been alive, JRPGs have always been a PlayStation deal. Sure, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and other classics began life on the NES and SNES, but they found a global audience with Sony’s consoles and called them home for decades. In recent years, this picture has started to change, with major series shifting over to neighbouring platforms in an effort to attract larger and more diverse swathes of players.
A number of major Japanese developers are no longer exclusively loyal to Sony, willing to migrate over to Xbox with series that even a few short years ago I never would have imagined being available there. You can now play all of the mainline Yakuza titles on Xbox Game Pass, for example, gaining access to endless amounts of Kazuma Kiryu brilliance for a small monthly subscription fee. It’s unparalleled value, and if you told me back when Yakuza 5 came out that the series would be an Xbox juggernaut one day, I would have laughed in your face. Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts have received a similar treatment, with Microsoft making a genuine effort to speak with publishers and showcase the appeal of its platform. Xbox will never be a hit in Japan, but that doesn’t matter – the country’s games are now shining brighter than ever before in other regions, and that’s a win in itself. Now it’s time for Persona to join the ranks.
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If you game on any of the Xbox consoles or PC, Game Pass feels like a no-brainer. It’s a cheap monthly fee that brings with it an endless library of growing experiences encompassing everything from major exclusives to indie darlings. While Sony is busy charging £70 for fillet steak, Microsoft is offering a loaded buffet. You might never have bought Tales of Vesperia, but now you can have a taste and see if it tickles your fancy before moving on to something else. It might be your new most favourite thing ever, or you could pass it by without ever thinking about it again. That’s the beauty of Xbox Game Pass: you’re already in the ecosystem and Microsoft doesn’t care how you use it, you’re free to experiment to your heart’s content. People pay for cheap access to Halo Infinite and stay for the smaller gems they grow enamoured with along the way.
JRPGs are a big part of this equation, especially when you consider their fractured history with Xbox and how the platform has seldom been the place to play them. Final Fantasy 13 arriving on the Xbox 360 was a huge deal back in the day, while other exclusives like Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey felt like a strategy from Microsoft to show how serious it was about courting Japanese creators. This dedication didn’t last, and was further damaged thanks to ruined projects like Scalebound. But now this ground is being clawed back, with the likes of Final Fantasy and Yakuza having a heavy presence on Xbox Game Pass playing a huge role in this changing reputation. Now it’s time for Persona to join the ranks.
Atlus recently announced plans for Persona’s 25th Anniversary and how it aims to unveil seven new projects later this year to celebrate. Job listings confirm Persona 6 is one of these, but the others could range from ambitious remakes to spin-offs, to ports for existing games, all of which fans are desperate to see.
My money is on Persona 5 Royal for Xbox and PC being one of the big announcements, and better yet – I wouldn’t be surprised if it comes directly to Xbox Game Pass. There’s no better way for Microsoft to flaunt its intentions than bringing one of the most beloved games in recent years to its subscription service with a few extra bells and whistles. If you’re even slightly invested in the gaming scene, Persona 5 has likely come up in conversation once or twice, but the main game remains a PlayStation exclusive. Strikers, the spin-off sequel to Persona 5, is on PC and Switch, while Persona 4 Golden came to PC last year. Xbox remains the final frontier, and Persona 5 Royal could be the game to breach it.
Perhaps expecting Persona 5 Royal to land on Xbox Game Pass without a traditional launch to precede it is a little too ambitious, with the series having never graced the ecosystem in any capacity before. It was the only major platform to miss out on Persona 5 Strikers after all, so if anything the ignorance being placed towards it feels deliberate. I hope this attitude is changing internally right now, since Persona is a series that deserves to be enjoyed by as many people as possible, and a new home on Game Pass could introduce it to a whole new generation of players who have never even thought of playing it before.
Yakuza and Final Fantasy were the start of something big, so it’s time for Persona 5 Royal to open the floodgates and establish a new frontier for JRPGs. If my prediction comes true, I promise I’ll actually finish it this time. Maybe.
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