Leaker Claims Persona 3 Reload Expansion Pass Is Cut Content

gamerant.com:

The entire expansion pass for Persona 3 Reload is already done and has essentially been cut from the game pre-release, a prominent Sega leaker has claimed. The same source shared some other surprising information about the project that doesn't match the fandom's established perception of the Persona 3 Reload development timeline.

The much-requested Persona 3 remake was announced at the June 2023 Xbox Games Showcase. Atlus described the project as a reimagining of the 2006 original instead of its later versions, P3 FES and Portable. The former expanded the base game with the addition of a lengthy epilogue chapter called The Answer. While some fans disliked the epilogue's grindy nature, others argued that the experience is incomplete without it, concluding that Persona 3 Reload not remaking The Answer is a big deal.

Nine months later, Atlus announced the Persona 3 Reload expansion pass, a $34.99 bundle that includes Episode Aigis: The Answer. With the remake of the epilogue being planned for release in September, some fans took this to mean that it is still in the works, assuming that Atlus tackled it after wrapping up the development of the base game, a common industry practice for handling post-launch content. But well-known Sega leaker Midori has now suggested that is not the case, claiming that the entire expansion pass had already been completed before Reload was released on February 2.

Aside from implying The Answer was essentially cut from the day-one version of the game, Midori claimed that Persona 3 Reload itself was finished nearly two years ahead of its market debut, stating that its development wrapped up in spring 2022. Reload Producer Kazuhisa Wada was previously on record as saying that the project entered active production in the second half of 2019, so Midori's recent claim suggests the entire undertaking only took around three years. That is a surprisingly short time frame for a contemporary AAA game, remake or not.

Although this is by no means official