As the Persona and Yakuza series fly beyond 20 million sales each, Sega says its JRPG successes are thanks to the power of multi-platform releases
The Persona series has now reached over 23 million players worldwide and Yakuza almost 28 million - and Sega says that this fast-growing success can be attributed to a few key choices regarding games' releases.
According to Sega’s Annual Integrated Report for 2024, both the Persona and Like a Dragon franchises are flying. The former series boasts 23.5 million copies sold while the latter has hit a whopping 27.7 million sales worldwide. These impressive figures include digital and physical sales, with the Persona 5 line of games and spin-off titles accounting for over 10 million copies sold alone - almost half of the series' lifetime sales.
The JRPGs' success, as Sega describes it, comes for a few reasons - with the first being the publisher's multi-platform approach to launches. It also comes down to simultaneous worldwide releases, with statements from one of last year's quarterly reports highlighting plans for future titles like Persona 6 to drop across multiple platforms globally on day one. Sega cites remasters and spin-offs as factors for sales growth, too, with recent examples like Persona 3 Reload.
Earlier this year, the remaster of the beloved 2006 entry was released following the very standards Sega says are responsible for high sales - Persona 3 Reload launched across all systems worldwide at once on February 2. It certainly seems to be working for the company, and as a longtime fan of JRPG series like Persona and action-adventure gems such as Like a Dragon, I'm happy not to have to wait for any delayed global releases.
Not sure what to play next? Here are the best Yakuza games , all ranked conveniently in order for easy browsing.
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