Persona 5 Composer Meguro and Art Director Soejima Comment on Game’s Global Success

Persona 5 composer Shoji Meguro and art director/character designer Shigenori Soejima gave their thoughts on the keys to that success.

JNestled in the Sega Sammy FY 2021 Winter Business Report are messages from the Persona 5 composer Shoji Meguro and art director/character designer Shigenori Soejima. The two creatives commented on the game’s global success and what they feel are the keys to that success in the report.

Shoji Meguro stated the following:

We were thrilled to see the game move on to become a global hit. I think one thing that got a particularly favorable reaction from players overseas was that they could get a feel for Japanese culture via music throughout the entire game. Without resting on our laurels, we will continue to create music that captivates players around the world and aim to deliver compelling products.

And Shigenori Soejima had this to say:

While the game was well received overseas, we didn’t particularly set out to design something with an international audience in mind, because in this day and age, we already share a lot of values globally. To deliver content with cultural expressions distinctive to Japan and have that gain broad acceptance is rewarding to see as a creator. Going for-ward, I’d like to continue contributing value to our games by building aesthetics on par with not only other high quality products in the industry, but in other genres as well.

I find it particularly interesting that both creatives felt that the international audience was able to resonate with the Japanese culture showcased in the game, which is what contributed to its worldwide success.

Atlus has revealed that Persona 5 Royal’s worldwide sales have officially reached over 1.4 million copies sold since it was first released in Japan in October 2019, followed by its Western launch this past March. Additionally, Atlus also highlighted that the series’ total lifetime sales to date have reached over 13 million copies sold around the world.

Back in February of this year I was able to sit down with the head of Atlus West PR, Arianne Advincula, for a quick interview. We discussed the challenges faced working with a game that has already been released in Japan, changes in the English localization between the original P5 and Royal, how streaming policies have been handled since its launch in the West, the EFIGS localization, and more.

Recently Persona 5 the Animation received a full Blu-ray boxset release this September, which also included a new English dub featuring the original voice cast.

Allisa James (2020, December 20)

Persona 5 Composer Meguro and Art Director Soejima Comment on Game’s Global Success. Retrieved from https://dualshockers