Metaphor: ReFantazio released last week to unanimous critical acclaim, which is probably not surprising: its famed director Katsura Hashino commandeered Persona 5. Following the success of Persona 5, Hashino formed a new Atlus arm called Studio Zero in 2016 to work on Metaphor: ReFantazio (then known as Zero Re Fantasy), which involved leaving Persona in the hands of P-Studio.
In a new machine-translated Famitsu interview shared with Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, Hashino revealed Studio Zero is already working on a new game. Asked what the studio will move to after Metaphor, Hashino replied "Ah, they've already started".
Asked if he was helming the new project, Hashino appears to take the humble approach. "I don't really think about it as an individual," he said. "I look at Atlus as a whole and think about what our team should create. First, I want our users to be happy, and then I want the company to be happy too. That's how I always work".
(He also works according to the logic that he doesn't want his games to "look like they were designed by a bunch of people in a CEO boardroom," which explains why we get bosses like Homo Avades and not just a chopper or dragon, or something).
Hashino goes on to reiterate Studio Zero's role in the labyrinthine Atlus machine. It wasn't founded just to make Metaphor: ReFantazio; instead, it's "a place for new endeavors that calls itself Studio Zero". So it's unclear whether we'll be getting more Metaphor or something else entirely. Perhaps a Catherine sequel? I don't know who wants that. I don't know if I want that.
That said, given the early success of Metaphor—it sold a million copies in its first day, which is a huge number coming from a studio still considered obscure in the west a decade ago—I wouldn't be surprised if it was spun off into its own ongoing series.
