It Looks Like Persona 5 Fans Are About To Get Great News
Lately, everything has been coming up Persona. In 2019, Persona 5's main star Joker crashed the party as a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC character, and PlayStation 4 owners received an updated version of Persona 5 in the form of Persona 5 Royal. More importantly, Atlus announced a musou-themed Persona 5 sequel, Persona 5 Scramble, and in 2020, the Persona franchise took its first steps into modern PC gaming with a Steam release of Persona 4 Golden. Take the latter two announcements, stitch the head of one onto the body of another, and you get some excellent news for Persona fans.
Recently, a trailer for the Western release of Persona 5 Scramble hit the internet. Now named Persona 5 Strikers, the trailer shows off all the Persona 5 musou goodness audiences have longingly anticipated since 2019 — including bosses and special moves — but now with English voiceovers. However, the best was yet to come since the trailer ends with a release date and planned platforms. Starting Feb. 23, 2021, gamers can play Persona 5 Strikers on the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch (as expected), and surprisingly, on Steam. Ryuji "Skull" Sakamoto puts it best when he says, "For real?"
The trailer also promises audiences can pre-order the game right now at atlus.com/p5s. However, you might have noticed two problems: The trailer isn't available through the official Atlus YouTube account, and the pre-order site isn't active. According to Destructoid, the official trailer was pulled about 10 minutes after it went live. Despite the video's legitimacy, it doesn't seem to exist outside of unofficial sources. The running theory is the trailer was supposed to wait until The Game Awards, but someone messed up and released it prematurely. Well, their goof is our gain.
While the news of a Western, PC version of Persona 5 Strikers is welcome, it is not completely unexpected. Atlus has recently turned a curious eye to the PC market. The studio rang in 2019 with a surprise Steam launch of Catherine (renamed Catherine Classic). Shortly afterwards, Atlus asked gamers what other titles they wanted to see on PC. And then in June of 2020, Persona 4 Golden hit Steam.
Since Persona 5 Strikers is now set to populate Western gaming libraries in 2021, and with a PC version on less, can fans expect a PC port of Persona 5 (or Persona 5 Royal)? Signs point to maybe. All that can be said for certain is that the wait for Persona 5 Strikers is almost over.