Persona 5 Royal’s Worldwide Release Will Receive an Updated Localization

Both IGN and GameSpot received confirmation from Atlus Senior Project Manager Yu Namba and Communication Manager Ari Advincula that Persona 5 Royal will have updated versions of scenes that were considered harmful by fans of the most recent title. The localization will be adjusted.

Recommended Videos

One of the central scenes in question concerns two openly gay characters who harass Ryuji, one of the high school-aged characters in the game. The original Persona 5 in-game dialogue was criticized for furthering the idea that gay men are predatory and sexually aggressive. The Persona franchise has been called out for the portrayal of gay men since Persona 4, which featured homophobic dialogue and plot beats that remains in the definitive Persona 4 Golden PlayStation Vita release.

When GameSpot spoke to Yu Namba at a preview event, he discussed the limitations of localizing a game outside of Japan and said, “As a localization manager, I really cannot do too much about what has already made it into the game.” While it’s true that it’s hard to change a game during localization, Namba further assured people that Atlus has listened to critiques and taken it to heart and noted, “Our team members felt a little bit of awkwardness (…) when working on it. And with Royal, we were determined to see if we could do something about it at least localization-wise.”

While the characters in question remain unchanged in the Japanese release of Persona 5 Royal, some see the change to the worldwide release as incredibly positive, including Advincula, who told IGN that this version of the game is “a chance [for Atlus] to make it right.”

Persona 5 Royal is immediately available on the PlayStation 4 in Japan and will release worldwide on March 31, 2020.


Siliconera is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more
related content
Read Article Kotaro Uchikoshi Tease References AI: The Somnium Files
Kotaro Uchikoshi Tease References AI: The Somnium Files
Read Article Splatoon 3 Developers Discuss Acht, Pearl, Marina in Side Order DLC
Splatoon 3 Developers Discuss Acht, Pearl, Marina in Side Order DLC
Read Article Cupid Parasite: Sweet and Spicy Darling Otome Game Arrives in May
Cupid Parasite: Sweet and Spicy Darling Otome Game Arrives in May
Read Article That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3 Heads to Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll announced that That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime season 3 is about to join past seasons of the Tensura anime.
Read Article Genshin Impact Neuvillette and Kazuha Rerun Banners Detailed
Genshin Impact Neuvillette and Kazuha Rerun Banners Detailed
Related Content
Read Article Kotaro Uchikoshi Tease References AI: The Somnium Files
Kotaro Uchikoshi Tease References AI: The Somnium Files
Read Article Splatoon 3 Developers Discuss Acht, Pearl, Marina in Side Order DLC
Splatoon 3 Developers Discuss Acht, Pearl, Marina in Side Order DLC
Read Article Cupid Parasite: Sweet and Spicy Darling Otome Game Arrives in May
Cupid Parasite: Sweet and Spicy Darling Otome Game Arrives in May
Read Article That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3 Heads to Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll announced that That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime season 3 is about to join past seasons of the Tensura anime.
Read Article Genshin Impact Neuvillette and Kazuha Rerun Banners Detailed
Genshin Impact Neuvillette and Kazuha Rerun Banners Detailed
Author
Mercedez Clewis
Mercedez is a former staff writer, Japanese to English translator and a glasses-wearing, cardigan-loving gamer with a passion for visual novels, Etrian Odyssey, and peaches. They'll be covering Japanese gaming news on the reg.