Soul Hackers 2 could have been the perfect Game Pass RPG

digitaltrends.com:

Atlus created quite a bit of fanfare earlier this year when it announced that the Persona series would arrive on Xbox in October. But that isn’t the only JRPG the publisher had in store for Xbox owners this year. Soul Hackers 2 was a big get for Microsoft, bringing the Shin Megami Tensei style of gameplay to its systems with a fresh release. It launched at the end of August without nearly as much excitement as Persona — Persona 5’s Xbox release date announcement seemed to overshadow Soul Hackers 2’s entire existence.

According to Famitsu, Soul Hackers 2 sold an estimated 51,861 physical copies in Japan during its launch week across both PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4. While this doesn’t include digital download numbers, this is still well below Shin Megami Tensei V’s launch week numbers of 143,247 physical copies sold in Japan.

There aren’t definitive numbers on Soul Hackers 2’s sales numbers in the West, but looking at certain charts across platforms it released on, we can see how it’s performing. On Xbox, Soul Hackers 2 didn’t appear on the “Most Played” section on the Microsoft Store during its launch week, and was only found on the 8th page on the “Top Paid” chart.

Soul Hackers 2 could’ve been the perfect game to usher in Microsoft’s rekindled relationship with Atlus – and it could have used Xbox Game Pass to accomplish that. The JRPG may have stood a better chance at success had Atlus embraced the popular subscription service, as it’s the perfect type of game for the platform due to its length, DLC strategy, and critical reception.

Given that Xbox is currently gaining popularity in Japan, locking down Soul Hackers 2 as a day one Xbox Game Pass release could have been a perfect way to push that momentum. Since