Next year, Persona and Shin Megami Tensei developer Atlus would like to release a new game that will further solidify the company's status as a premier Japanese studio.
As reported by Gematsu, Famitsu asked several video game companies about their goals and ambitions for 2022 as this year draws to an end, and Atlus' Shinjiro Takada had some exciting things to say for fans of the studio's games.
Takada - who is responsible for such franchises as Shin Megami Tensei and Etrian Odyssey - says, "I chose ‘Challenge’ as my keyword for 2022 in hopes to release a title to the world that will become a pillar for Atlus." He continues, "The staff are working hard on development to make something that’ll be interesting and satisfying for everyone, so I’d be happy if you could look forward to it.”
Currently, we know of three projects that Atlus is working on. A port of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax was announced at The Game Awards 2021 and is launching on March 17, 2022, for PC, PS4, and Nintendo Switch. Additionally, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is launching for Nintendo Switch on April 22, 2022; it was originally released on PS4 in 2020. The last one is Project Re Fantasy, which is being led by a new development team called Studio Zero. It was revealed back in 2016, but not much information about the game has been shown yet.
It's unclear whether or not Re Fantasy is the game Takada is talking about. However, speaking with Famitsu in December 2020, Atlus producer Katsura Hashino stated that development on the game was at its climax and that he would like to release gameplay details soon.
There is also a potential Atlus titled called "Project Pen" that was listed on the Australian Government Classification Database in November, so that could be another possibility.
“With Shin Megami Tensei V finally released, we are taking a breath of relief, although we hope to announce something this year (2022) too, so please stay tuned," Takada explains.
This year, Atlus localized Persona 5 Strikers and Shin Megami Tensei III HD Remaster, as well as launched a global simultaneous release for Shin Megami Tensei V. Hopefully, Atlus will continue with the global launches for future games so western fans can enjoy them at the same time as the Japanese ones.
George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey