After months of regional testing and uncertainty for international fans,Persona 5: The Phantom Xhas finally made its international debut on PC and mobile. While the live-service gacha format certainly makes it a far cry from anyPersonagame that’s come before,Persona 5: The Phantom Xalso offers much of the same story and gameplay loop that a fan could expect from a mainlinePersonagame, from turn-based battles to social sim elements. That melting pot of features seems to have paid off already, becausePersona 5: the Phantom X’s peak player count has already rocketed past its guiding light,Persona 5 Royal.
Personaspin-off gameshave a sort of unpredictable history in terms of popularity, so it’s a bit of a surprise thatThe Phantom Xis such a smash hit right out the gates. However, when considering the different audiences that it blends together, its immediate success becomes a lot less surprising. What’s more, the strong launch forPersona 5: The Phantom Xultimately isn’t the most important test of its quality by a long shot.The Phantom Xhas set out into uncharted territory for thePersonafranchise, and the real measure of its success will be how well it navigates that chosen field.
Persona 5: The Phantom X’s Popular International Release is Just Step One
There’s no denying thatPersona 5: The Phantom Xhas started out strong. IfPersona 5was a big tailwind for the franchise,Persona 5 Royalwas the ship that caught the wind in its sails, cruising well beyond the PlayStation and bringing the franchise to fans on Xbox, PC, and Nintendo Switch. On Steam,Royaldisplayed its appeal by earning a peak player count of about 34,000 on Steam – but in mere days,The Phantom Xhas shatteredPersona 5 Royal’s peak player count recordby hitting 41,000 Steam users and counting. Impressive as it is, the reasons for the game’s instant appeal seem clear for two reasons:
Persona 5: The Phantom X Has Just Started Down a Long Road
This isn’t to belittleThe Phantom X’s early achievement – it’s still of note – but aside from these likely culprits for the early success, it’s also only the first step. SincePersonagames are generally traditional non-service games, they don’t need to worry about a post-launch life; they release, get their playerbase, and eventually fans move on.The Phantom X, however, needs to justify its live-service move in the long run, not just the short term. It may be popular now, but its real popularity will depend on things like how compelling future plot updates are, how frequent and consistent in quality the updates are, and so on. As any number of live-service flops can attest, success is determined by staying power, not just first impressions.
In particular, this is a test ofThe Phantom X’s controversial choice to draw onthe gacha genretoo. Aside from simply being a high-dedication type of game that players can burn out on, the gacha style’s monetization practices are often criticized as predatory. The developers are inevitably going to stay committed to monetization through gacha, butThe Phantom Xwill need to be as F2P-friendly as possible if it hopes to earn or maintain goodwill.The Phantom Xdeserves to celebrate its strong start, but it has a lot of work ahead of it too.
