Atlus Updates Persona 5 Domain, Hinting at Possible Announcement

The Persona series is no stranger to updated re-releases and off-the-wall spin-offs. Look no further than the Persona Dancing: Endless Night Collection from this month for a prime example. Back in April 2017, weeks after the release of Persona 5, Atlus registered the domain P5R.jp, and it remained dormant until the domain name changed on Dec. 25.

The name P5R is reminiscent of the updated version of the last flagship title, Persona 4 Golden. P4G, as it's commonly shortened to, retold the story of Persona 4 but added more content, including new social links, game mechanics, and personas. It's possible that P5R will give Persona 5 a similar treatment. Additionally, P4G was released on the PlayStation Vita instead of PlayStation 2, moving the game to handheld. Persona 3 Portable started that trend overall. P5R could do something similar with Persona 5.

The P5R domain isn't accessible by the public as of the time of writing. However, according to Persona Central, Atlus might reveal P5R during the Dark Sun... TV special on Dec. 30. Dark Sun... is meant to cap off Persona 5: The Animation, which wrapped up at the end of September.

To add to the speculation, Atlus has recently registered seven other domains related to Persona 5. These domains pair off into similar naming conventions, implying at least three other projects aside from P5R. They're listed below.

• Persona5R.jp
• Persona5S.jp
• P5S.jp
• Persona5M.jp
• P5M.jp
• Persona5B.jp
• P5B.jp

What S, M, and B could represent is anyone's guess, but considering that it took 20 months to see movement on P5R.jp, we might be guessing for a while. The Persona series is no stranger to fighting game spin-offs, which might be related to one of these domains. Frankly, it won't be the first time we'll see Joker fight in a game. However, according to a rumor leaked on Japanese forums, P5U is the title for the Persona 5 fighting game. Atlus registered the domain P5U.jp  last April.

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Quick Take

Persona 5 propelled the franchise to new heights of success, making it more visible to the mainstream than ever before. It even made our top five Games of the Year for 2017. It only makes sense for Atlus to cash in on the popularity of its franchise by making spin-off games. I hope P5R (or really any of these) is a signal for an updated version of Persona 5. It would be nice to revisit the Phantom Thieves with new content. Bonus points if it gets a Switch port.

What are your predictions for the Persona spin-off games that could be coming? Let us know in the comments below.