Out of all the games in thePersonafranchise,Persona 5: The Phantom Xis one of the series' only installments that English-speaking fans haven’t had a chance to try out yet. ThisPersona 5spin-off, which is being developed by Perfect World Games, was released exclusively on PC and mobile phones in April 2024, and is only available in select Asian territories, like China, South Korea, and Macau. AlthoughPersona 5: The Phantom Xis scheduled to launch in Japan in early 2025, it has neither been officially announced for Western regions, nor translated to English.
Despite some rumors going around, dating as far back as mid-2023, thatPersona 5: The Phantom Xwill be released worldwide, nothing has happened so far, aside from the game’s publishers, Sega and Atlus, saying that they are considering it.Given that the companies are just now bringingPersona 5: The Phantom Xto the franchise’s home country, Japan, it may take months, if not years, for the game to make its way to the West. As disappointing as this would be for manyPersonafans, this may be beneficial forPersona 5: The Phantom Xin the long run, because the game will probably be feature-rich by the time it is released internationally.
A Delayed Western Release May Be Beneficial for Persona 5: The Phantom X
Perfect World Games Have Consistently Released New Content for P5X Since Its Debut
Even though it is still in open beta,Persona 5: The Phantom Xhas received a bunch of major content updates in the last several months. The developers at Perfect World Games have not only released several new playable characters for the game, but have also hostedsome seasonal holiday events. Just recently, in fact, the studio announced that it would be holding a Valentine’s Day event forP5Xlater this month, which will allow players to go on Valentine’s dates with many of the female characters in the game.
Alongside these events, Perfect World Games has also added several new gameplay features toPersona 5: The Phantom Xsince its early access launch. Update 2.1.1., which came out in August 2024, made it possible forplayer characters to wear costumes in battle. Update 3.2.5., meanwhile, brought a badge identification system toPersona 5: The Phantom Xand even fleshed out some of the game’s side content by adding two new capsule machines, a new Mementos area, and four new movies that players could watch in the in-game theater during their free time.
Persona 5: The Phantom Xis a continuously evolving live service game,and as such, its narrative doesn’t have a definitive ending. Perfect World Games regularly releases new story content inP5Xfor players to complete. However, unlike the mainline entries in thePersonafranchise, the story content in question is divided into chapters that are released in parts. This means that players will have to wait for each part to come out in order to experience its respective chapter in full. Having to wait for the conclusion of a chapter inPersona 5: The Phantom Xcan no doubt be frustrating, especially forPersonafans that are used to playing through a game at their own pace.
Persona 5: The Phantom X Should Be Chock-Full of Content By the Time It Comes to the West
SincePersona 5: The Phantom X’s worldwide launchis still likely months away, English-speaking fans hopefully won’t have to deal with these sorts of issues. By the timeP5Xcomes to the West, it will probably no longer be in open beta and will be feature-complete, as a result. IfPersona 5: The Phantom Xis filled to the brim with content on day-one, it may actually have a shot at competing with the heavyweights of the gacha game genre, likeGenshin ImpactandZenless Zone Zero, but only time will tell.
