Atlus released the firstPersonagame on July 11, 2025 in Japan - the series will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2021. And it looks like Atlus and Sega have some plans in store to celebrate.
Famitsulast week, and now 4Gamer on December 28, published theirtraditionalend of the yearmessagesfrom Japanese developers. With over a hundred of messages each. Kazuhisa Wada at Atlus was chief designer onPersona 4 Golden, director on thePersona Arenaseries, director and producer on thePersona Dancing series, and producer onPersona 5 Royal. He teased some plans for the 25th anniversary. We translated his messages below.
Kazuhisa Wada - end of the year message on Famitsu:
2021 Keyword:“Carrying out one’s original intention"
Aspirations for 2021:“2020 was completely unpredictable, and the same goes for 2021. It’s more important than ever to come out front in these unpredictable times. For 2021, I want to calmly assess what I need to do and push forward."
Latest news: “We’re quietly working on some project(s). Thanks to everyone, this year will mark the 25th anniversary of thePersonaseries. We’re thinking about what should we do to celebrate and make everyone excited, so look forward to it.”
What I’m looking forward to in 2021:“Toyota’s “Woven City” project. It still has a long way to go, but I hope it succeeds. Maybe SF future cities soon won’t be fiction anymore?"
Kazuhisa Wada - end of the year message on 4Gamer (summarized):
The 2020 released game that impressed or shocked me the most:Cyberpunk 2077. You can tell it was hard balancing such a huge, cutting-edge project, with a worldwide multi-platform release, and sacrifices were made. Thinking about the game’s development, I realize the game’s world is incredibly well-crafted. I’m playing on PS4 so there are various issues, but I’m enjoying it.
The most memorable piece of entertainment released in 2020:It technically didn’t release this year, butDerren Brown: Pushed to the Edge.
The person you paid attention to in 2020:Donald trump. From his non-handling of the pandemic to the elections, that was pretty much a movie unfolding.
Your inspirations for 2021 and a message for 4Gamer readers: 2021 will mark the 25th anniversary of thePersonaseries. We’re thinking about various things to make it an exciting anniversary with everyone, so look forward to it!
Personally speaking, this is definitely promising and perhaps morePersona 5games are coming. Having playedPersona 5 Strikersin Japanese, I can vouch for it being a great Action RPG and sequel. I definitely want to see more sequels or spinoffs. MaybePersona 5 Arenawill finally happen?
Persona 5 Strikerswill launch in the west on PS4, Switch and Steam on February 23rd, 2021. The Steam release is likely due to theimmensesuccess ofPersona 4 Goldenon PC. Recently, Atlus also published a video featured theEnglish voice actresses and actors reacting to the sequel.
In the same messages, Katsura Hashino explained the development ofProject Re Fantasyis at a turning point and he wants to show gameplay soon.
Read more of the end of the year messages from Japanese developers withour past coverage.You canpreorderPersona 5 Strikerson Amazon to support DualShockers.
