Perfect World Games and Black Wings Game Studio have officially announced Persona 5: The Phantom X, a brand new free-to-play spinoff for iOS and Android in China that features a new story and characters.
The new game was originally teased in April 2021, when Perfect World Games released a single image and said it was working on adapting “a famous JRPG IP.” Speculation turned out to be spot on, and even though a release date was not announced, it’s been confirmed Persona 5: The Phantom X will be a free-to-play title with “gacha” elements. The two trailers of the game have been put on YouTube courtesy of Gematsu.
Persona 5: The Phantom X is a completely new experience that retains the gameplay of the main game while touching up the visuals and optimizing the experience for phones. The story is, once again, set in the heart of Tokyo and follows a student that attends classes by day but after school, infiltrates Metaverse palaces.
There seem to be two main characters based on the initial trailers as well as a new mascot, a hooded anthropomorphic owl that wields tonfas as a weapon. The gameplay trailer also shows off a selection of side activities, including baseball, fishing, and watching movies, suggesting social simulation elements will return.
While Perfect World and Black Wings are handling development and distribution, both Sega and Atlus’ P-Studio are overseeing the project and providing resources.
At the moment, the game is also only confirmed for mobile in China, and it’s unclear if versions are planned for any other regions. Oftentimes China-exclusive mobile games don’t see a global release, but occasionally that’s not the case, like with the upcoming Devil May Cry: Peak of Combat mobile game.
At the moment, Persona 5: The Phantom X is the only announced new Persona game, but there have been heavy rumours on both Persona 6 and a Persona 3 remake.
