Persona 5 Royal, alongside Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden, were announced to be coming to current-generation hardware (and yes, this includes the Switch) last month at Summer Game Fest 2022. It’ll mark the first time Xbox sees any mainline Persona title (as they’ve only gotten Persona 4 Arena and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax). However, given Persona 5 Royal already exists on PlayStation 4, a question you’d ask yourself is “Are we getting a free upgrade to the PS5 version?”
Unfortunately, the answer is no, despite the fact that Persona 5 Royal‘s been out since 2019 in Japan and March 2020 in the Americas as a PlayStation 4 exclusive title. Some tweets floating around mentioned it, like the one below from PersonaCentral.
Persona 5 Royal Remastered Release FAQ, Confirms No Free Upgrade From PS4 to PS5 – https://t.co/HgFeVB8Be2 pic.twitter.com/SWEzOskxKc
— Persona Central (@Persona_Central) July 21, 2022
This seems a little ridiculous on a surface level, as Xbox still does its Smart Delivery system with its releases (where, if you own one version of a game, you own the next-gen version as well). Meanwhile, Sony’s been really stingy about upgrades (sometimes charging extra for it or not offering it at all). Anyways, why did Atlus decide to not provide free upgrades to those who bought the game back on PS4?
Atlus, in their Persona 5 Royal Q&A released yesterday, merely says that there isn’t an upgrade, without further elaboration. Just that they hope people will purchase the PlayStation 5 version. It’s very vague coming from Atlus, all things considered. Honestly, a more believable idea is that Atlus didn’t make the next-gen versions of Persona 5 Royal with DLC in mind, as it would already be included in the base game (but that’s purely speculation and nothing more).
There are still a few months between now and Persona 5 Royal‘s release on other platforms, so it’s possible Atlus could change their minds on the matter, but we’ll update if that winds up becoming a reality.
Persona 5 Royal is out now on PlayStation 4. It will be released on October 21st, 2022, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via the Windows 10 Store and Steam.
Persona 4 Golden is out now on PlayStation Vita and PC via Steam. It will launch on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via the Windows 10 Store and Steam soon (currently TBA).
Persona 3 Portable is out now on PlayStation Portable. It will launch on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via the Windows 10 Store and Steam soon (currently TBA).
Source: Persona 5 Royal Q&A from Japan, PersonaCentral on Twitter.
