Persona 3 Reload Producer Says There's "No Chance" Of FeMC Being Added

thegamer.com:

Persona 3 Reload's producer, Kazuhisa Wada, has finally put a pin in the possibility of Persona 3 Portable's highly-requested FeMC, Kotone Shiomi, being added to the game as DLC.

Ever since it was first revealed that Persona 3 was going to be getting a remake, there has been some controversy surrounding the fact that it was only adapting the original game and missing out content from Persona 3 FES and Persona 3 Portable. These two versions of the game introduce a lot of new content that fans were asking for, but by far the biggest one that players wanted is Portable's female protagonist.

When Persona 3 Reload released and contained no hints about Kotone being included in the game or potentially being added later, most fans lost all hope that it'd ever happen. Then, it was rumoured that Persona 3 FES' epilogue, The Answer, might be coming to the game, restarting the demand for Kotone and getting everyone's hopes up again.

Just a few days ago, it was confirmed that Persona 3 Reload is getting an expansion that includes Persona 3 FES' The Answer, something that was almost cancelled due to unknown "circumstances". You might think that this also indicates that Portable's female protagonist is a possibility if there's enough fan demand, but that's sadly not the case.

Reload's producer, Kazuhisa Wada, recently took part in an interview with Famitsu about Episode Aigis - The Answer, where he talked about how development of the DLC started and what it includes. Right at the end of the interview, Wada is asked about whether Kotone was ever considered for Reload and if it's a possibility that she might be added in the future.

"I really feel bad for the female protagonist, but unfortunately, there is no chance of that happening. Of course, we were also considering planning for a female protagonist, but the hurdles were too high, as it was expected to take a long development period and cost several times as much as "Episode Aegis".

In response, Wada revealed that a female