"It's starting!" says Atlus' announcement of a year-long Persona celebration, doing absolutely nothing to dampen down the heart-fires of weebs worldwide. The series developer will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the first game in September 2021, and has announced it's working on seven new projects that will be announced separately until Autumn 2022. The event's website also has various bits of anniversary merchandise to offer and, rather charmingly, adds: "If you don't mind, please take this opportunity to purchase it!"
The first thing to do is set expectations: Atlus has previous celebrated anniversaries by announcing somewhat minor projects, and it also has a habit of (as in this case) announcing that it'll be making an announcement about a teaser trailer. The seven projects are never going to all be games: previous anniversaries have seen things like one-off concerts of Persona music, for example.
However, there is one big indication that something more exciting is coming. Among the merchandise on the site are two offerings that are yet to be fully revealed: a set of posters, and a set of trading cards. Computer: ENHANCE!
OK, well you don't need a magnifying glass. The above is the poster set, which features all of the cover art for the first five Persona games, including special editions, and then ends with two spaces for new cover art marked 'secret'. And here are the trading cards.
The above series features all of the protagonists from the mainline Persona games then, after 5, there's another card currently marked 'secret.'
So going on the poster, we can expect to hear about two new Persona titles in September, and the trading cards imply a new mainline protagonist will also be shown. Persona 6 confirmed, right? Atlus also confirms elsewhere on the site that the announcements will include "various events, collaborations, and of course game information. Please look forward to it."
Finally, the developer announced a sales landmark for the beloved JRPG series. This year, "the 'Persona' series exceeded cumulative worldwide sales of 15 million units. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all those who have watched over and supported us for a long time. In September, the 'Persona' series will celebrate its 25th anniversary. With thanks to all of you, we are preparing a lot of fun for this year to come."
