Persona 6 is all but confirmed thanks to a new listing on Atlus’s job recruitment website. With a recently-revealed Persona 25th anniversary website having gone live just last night, speculation that a Persona 6 reveal is imminent has reached a fever pitch. Thanks to eagle-eyed, Japanese-fluent fans scouring the web for information, this speculation has been all but confirmed. It was discovered that the Japanese job recruitment portal Green Japan has a special page where Atlus Japan is actively scouting new hires to join its development team, and all indications point to Atlus bringing on more staffers to work on the next installment in their flagship franchise.
The page contains interviews with several current staff members to give prospective employees a feel for the company culture. Among these interviews is Naoto Hiraoka, a longtime Atlus employee and current managing director of the Sega-owned company’s consumer software division. He talks about several topics related to Atlus’s internal structure, its history, and its risee as a world-beloved game developer. Most important to Persona fans, however, is when Hiraoka brings up the topic of upcoming projects.
The Persona series fansite Persona Central was able to access and translate part of Hiraoka’s interview. When asked about a prospective Persona 6, he had this to say:
Since the series debuted in 1996, Persona has evolved into one of the biggest JRPG franchises around. It’s been selling tremendously well for Sega and Atlus, with sales of recent releases like Persona 5 Strikers and the Steam version of Persona 4 Golden helping the companies weather the COVID-19 pandemic. Last night’s announcement of a year-long Persona 25th-anniversary celebration sent Persona 6 trending on Twitter, as Atlus teased seven Persona-related announcements to be gradually revealed over the course of several months.
Thanks to the large amount of support we received for “Persona 5,” we have gotten a sense of accomplishment. But we can’t stop there. When we created “Persona 4,” there was pressure that it had to exceed “Persona 3.” Now, we will have to create a “6” which exceeds “5.” However, exceeding “5” will be difficult with the current staff. I would like to surpass this tall hurdle with everyone who joins us in this recruitment. The workplace is perfect for those who want a creative challenge when it comes to bringing games to the world.
Upon the website’s reveal, devoted Persona fans searched it thoroughly for clues about upcoming announcements. They’ve since discovered things like mysterious merchandise for a potentially to-be-announced new main character and speculated as to whether the white in the 25th-anniversary logo will be the “official” color of Persona 6, as the Persona installments lean heavily on specific colors for their UI and overall graphic design.
With Persona being one of Sega and Atlus’s best-selling games, it feels like a no-brainer that Persona 6 would eventually happen. While this interview comment isn’t quite an official announcement, it’s still a confirmation that the gears are moving to make Persona 6 happen, which should make plenty of folks happy. Well, except for this guy.
