By Sagar V. Mankar Atlus’ recent remake Persona 3 Reload has achieved a historic milestone, becoming the developer’s fastest-selling game of all time.
After launching on February 2nd for modern PlayStation and Xbox consoles as well as PC, Persona 3 Reload sold over 1 million units globally within its first week.
This impressive sales figure was announced by Atlus via their official Twitter account on February 8th.
It confirms that Persona 3 Reload has surpassed the opening week sales of any previous Atlus title, including mainline entries in the popular Persona RPG franchise.
Why Did Persona 3 Reload Sell So Well?
There are several factors that likely contributed to the runaway success of Persona 3 Reload:
- Multiplatform Release: This marks the first time a mainline Persona game has launched simultaneously on Xbox(X/S/One), PlayStation(PS4/PS5), and PC. The expanded platform reach exposed the remake to a much wider audience.
- Strong Reviews: Critics praised Persona 3 Reload for maintaining the spirit of the original while improving dated gameplay elements. It currently holds an 89% rating on Metacritic.
- Remake Fever: Remakes and re-releases of classic games have been selling extremely well lately. Entries like The Last of Us Part 1 and the Dead Space remake topped sales charts upon launch.
- Xbox Game Pass: Persona 3 Reload was available on Xbox Game Pass starting day one. This expanded the potential player base even further.
- Existing Persona Fans: The massive popularity of Persona 5 likely drove fans of the franchise to pick up this remake of Persona 3.
Smashing Franchise Records
To put Reload’s feat into context, previous Persona games have seen much slower starts:
- Persona 1 sold 656,000 copies across its original PS1 release and later PSP port.
- Persona 2 reached around 675,000 sales between Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment.
- Persona 3 topped 1.42 million sales across PS2 and PSP.
- Persona 4 sold approximately 4.6 million units, counting its Vita remake Golden.
- Persona 5 hit 7.2 million sales after Royal’s launch.
With 1 million sales in under a week, Persona 3 Reload left them all in the dust, demonstrating just how popular Atlus’ long-running RPG series has become.
Persona 3 Reload sold 1,000,000 copies worldwide within its first week, becoming the fastest selling game in ATLUS history! 🎉
A huge thank you to our community for your incredible support! We look forward to breaking more records with you. 💙 pic.twitter.com/C2abDAwCDs
— Official ATLUS West (@Atlus_West) February 8, 2024
What’s Next for Persona?
The runaway success of Persona 3 Reload likely paves the way for even more Persona remakes down the line.
Recent leaks suggest Persona 3 Reload will receive DLC expanding on the story epilogue “The Answer.”
There are also reports that remakes of Persona 1, 2, and 4 are in development.