Examples of Damage Control in Gaming: Is Persona 5 Really Still 2015 for America?
When Persona 5 was first confirmed for a Japanese and American release in 2015, the release timing was easy to believe despite the former’s delay. Atlus USA first announced their desire to release the title on PS3 and PS4 simultaneously around the time of PlayStation Expo last year, shortly after their Japanese arm confirmed the same before Tokyo Game Show. The belief at the end of 2014 was that it would hit Japan around spring or summer of 2015, while make America by the end of the year. That theory was believable if Atlus was planning on starting serious promotional efforts early in the year.
And start it they…didn’t. It sure felt like they’d started when the official gameplay reveal occurred in February, though a well-directed first trailer. We also learned at the time that Persona 4: Dancing All Night wouldn’t release on Vita until the end of June, placing Persona 5’s possible arrival at August or September at the earliest. (It releases on September 29th in America, by the way.) There was still a chance for it to hit both territories in late 2015, but that slowly dwindled when the company waited to include the second trailer with the aforementioned Dancing All Night’s release in Japan. The prospects further dwindled upon realizing said trailer wasn’t quite as impressive, though was nonetheless enjoyable.
Skepticism abounded, yet Atlus USA reaffirmed their intention to release it in 2015 at E3, after an update to the official website and trailer (the same one Japan received in February). Yes, it was still believable then, but as more time passes without much media, the more skepticism understandably rises. Still, Atlus USA’s head PR John L. Hardin has continued to reaffirm that it will release in America in 2015, which he did as recently as last Wednesday.
I’d love to believe him, but I’m having a tough time. At this point, it feels like the media blitz will begin sometime around Tokyo Game Show, with Atlus introducing the game’s characters and gameplay features on a weekly basis shortly afterward. Considering we’re discussing a company whose Japanese and American arms operate through more traditional methods, for better and worse, we still haven’t seen much media yet. Persona 5 will be their biggest game in years, so it should have the longest marketing cycle of any game they’ve released recently. But the silence is deafening thus far.
Speculation suggests it could release simultaneously between Japan and America, but that’s at least a little doubtful given how it’s been promoted. The first teaser trailer, for instance, was shown in Japan back in November 2013, but the English one didn’t arrive until February 2014. Following that, there was a three-month gap between the Japanese and English versions of the second (all-anime) teaser, while the first real trailer had slightly over a four-month gap. If this was planned for a simultaneous release, you’d think the promotion would be similarly concurrent.
Not to mention that we still don’t have an English version of the trailer included with Japan’s Dancing All Night release, nor has Atlus Japan uploaded it to their Youtube trailer — if they ever will.
That could just be a red herring, with media in both languages coming closely together when the real media blitz begins. It puts into perspective how unusual a simultaneous release would be for any niche Japanese company. But what’s curious is how even if the promotion starts around TGS to potentially lead to a December release, it means this game will have a shorter marketing cycle than recent Atlus titles like Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, the aforementioned Dancing All Night, and the considerably more niche Etrian Mystery Dungeon.
That short cycle would be unlikely to affect its sales, but you’d think Atlus would want to market this over at least half a year. They know fans would love every screenshot, piece of artwork, and especially video footage they’d release, so why not take advantage of that? In a way, fans would essentially hype this game for them!
Regardless of my analysis and pure speculation, we’ll see whether it’s still 2015 within a month, as there’s no way this title will miss TGS. If it’s no longer this year, they could cleverly cover themselves by saying they actually meant they were targeting a fiscal year 2015 timeframe (which ends in March 2016). Most fans wouldn’t appreciate it, particularly those who’ve been eagerly awaiting a new mainline title since Persona 4 released on PS2 way back in July 2008, but I’d want to pat them on the back for doing something so gutsy. Nevertheless, cross your fingers.
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Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
