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How Persona 4 fared when it comes to sales (hint: not as well as it should have)
by Colette Bennett, 10/06/2009
How Persona 4 fared when it comes to sales (hint: not as well as it should have) photo

[As originally posted on Destructoid]

Persona 4 was a victory for RPG fans in a variety of ways -- innovative gameplay and setting, engaging story, vivid character depictions and best of all, fun to play. You'd easily think that it sold quite well, but with the presentation of some new numbers from Atlus, we see that it did in fact fall short of what it should have. Via Siliconera:

North America
Persona 4 (PS2) – 110,000 (150,000 expected)
Devil Survivor (DS) – 40,000 (25,000 expected)

Japan
Persona 4 (PS2) – 300,000 (180,000 expected)
Devil Summoner 2 (PS2) – 180,000 (120,000 expected)
Devil Survivor (DS) – 110,000 (100,000 expected)
Persona (PSP) – 160,000 (50,000 expected)
Growlanser (PSP) – 50,000 (40,000 expected)

It's great to see that goals are being surpassed in Japan, but man, Americans only bought 110,000 copies of Persona 4? REALLY? Are there that few people in the gaming universe interested in an RPG like this? I mean, this financial report covers August 2008 to July 2009, so it could be that more have sold since July ... but I can't imagine that number has jumped too significantly.

Bottom line,its obvious from these numbers that more people are interested in the HD, generic RPG than they are in a truly stellar one with the balls to be unique, and that makes me sad.If you're interested but still waffling about buying it, please do yourself a favor -- you're missing one of the best RPGs on the PS2.




(15) COMMENTS



The-Excel

Amen.
 
Reibooi

I think a good reason alot of people in the US don't play the game(Even the RPG fans) Is alot of them don't know about it. The game has pretty much no advertising and is a very very niche game so unless you are a follower of Atlus you are pretty much not gonna know about it.

Also as mentioned alot of people skipped it because it was PS2. Alot of people upon it's announcement thought it was gonna be a PS3 game and they were confused to learn it wasn't. However Persona 5 is likely to be a next gen game and will probably sell ALOT more then 3 and 4 did partly due to the gaining popularity and because it will be on a HD console.


 
Josh Tolentino

Playing Devil's Advocate, it may be that Persona 3 sold well enough that Atlus raised their sales expectations unrealistically following Persona 3 and FES. Those sold quite well (though combined). Still, those numbers are indeed low, and seeing any game not sell as expected is disappointing.

I am quite happy, though, that Devil Survivor exceeded expectations so handily (and by a higher proportion than in Japan). I'm of the opinion that it's easily as good as Persona, and even surpasses it in some respects.

Also, the JP numbers on Persona PSP o_0
 
Enigma

I haven't finished FES, I have about a month or two left in-game to play through. I did the same thing with Lost Odyssey, where I play through 80-90% of the game and then just lose steam. Anyone else experience that?

Anyways, that's why I haven't purchased P4 or Devil Survivor, even though I'm sure I'd love either of them to death. As for total sales, I'd have to blame it on the short face-time it gets on the shelves. It didn't take long before you could only find 3 or 4 copies per store, and now you almost never see it, although I haven't checked for it recently.
 
Colette Bennett

@Enigma -I wrote a full feature about it over on Dtoid. Seems like a lot of people related to it...I wonder if in the end its the story that really pulls me through. (If you want to read what people said, it's here: http://www.destructoid.com/the-endgame-syndrome-why-do-we-abandon-games--48981.phtml)

@Reibooi - See, the funny thing is, I would have thought more people would buy it for PS2 because people were bitching about the price of the PS3 up to the point of the recent price drop and PS3 slim announcement. I figured by now everyone that wanted a PS2 had one. Hell, I'll be thrilled to see a next gen version of Persona, though.


 
Kitsune

I'm with Enigma: I still have about a month left of FES (so f'ing tired of level grinding), so I haven't felt like I can jump into the new game.

Plus, it's been summer and I guess I don't do a lot of gaming in the summer. I'm hoping someone buys it for me for my birthday. ^_^
 
Gee-Man

I agree, it's a damn shame that so few bought it, but seriously, if you're a fan of good RPGs, PLEASE check out Persona 4. It's the epitome of everything a Japansese RPG should do correctly. Great characters, engaging story, catchy music, and wonderful presentation.

Though I'll have to admit, I never beat P3 FES. Ugh, when you compare P4 and P3, it's impossible to see how one could have enjoyed P3's battle system. Don't get me wrong, I loved the story, but there's so much grinding and Yukari WON'T F*CKING HEAL YOU EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE THE LEAST HP AND YOU'RE POISONED, it's hard to find the motivation to keep playing.
 
BGFUSAB

I just hope that this doesn't discourage them from continuing to bring games to the US market because I love me some Persona.
 
Reibooi

@Colette Bennett

It's kind of a funny thing about the PS3 price thing. My group of friends all complained about the price but bought one anyway. So I wonder if that's how it is for the rest of the average gaming populace. There is also the chance that all those PS2 users upgraded(if you can call it that) to a 360 and didn't have a PS2 anymore(At least in the US as we all know Japan doesn't give a damn about the 360).

I was kinda hoping to see a Persona 5 announcement at TGS but no luck there. It's been leaked that the game is already in development because Shoji Meguro(Composer for P3 P3 Fes P4 and the new PSP remake of P1) let leak that he was working on teh music for Persona 5.

 
mana

I have Raidou Kuzunoha vs the Something Army and P3:Fes sitting in a corner collecting dust while I try to get through Kingdom Hearts 1.

I'll snatch up P4 as soon as I finish the 7 or 8 other 80 hour rpgs I have. I've had no time to play rpgs anymore.
 
President Stalin

Persona 4 basically served as the perfect sequel, taking most of the problems with P3 and correcting them. Now if only Teddy weren't there... I kid (kinda).

Devil Survivor was surprisingly good. Few games have actually conveyed the feeling of their setting so well as Survivor did throughout the majority of the game. Glad to see it exceeded expectations.
 
zombiekiller13

Atlus needs to put a little bit of money into advertising. Yes, they usually release niche titles that don't appeal to all gamers, but word-of-mouth can only go so far. I can't even recall seeing magazine ads for P4.

I'm such a whore for their games that I bought that P4 Social Link Amazon pack, the one with the calendar, Teddy doll, and shirt.

That said, I'm glad Devil Survivor did well. It is easily one of my favorite DS games, and one of the few games I've been compelled to start up a second game immediately after finishing it (did Yuzu's path, going for Amane's now). I've been telling my brother to pick up the game so I have someone (outside of gaming forums) to discuss it with and compare strategies.
 
Killrig

PS2 games are selling less and less with each year. Honestly, I'm still surprised to see PS2 games getting releases, but I'm VERY thankful for it as I keep buying the new PS2 RPGs like Persona 4.

With the addition of Sony providing poor backwards compatibility support for the PS3, it's making selling PS2 games even harder for those that may've already been rid of their old Sony system (I've no idea why someone would do this, but who knows).
 
Kyonshiro

You know I hate to say this but:

"I'm really happy for you Persona 4, Imma let you finish, but Fallout 3 was the best RPG of 2008. OF 2008 !!"

Which is the truth. It may seem like a generic HD RPG, but that RPG reminded me of what I liked about Western RPGs: character customization and expansive world.

Of course comparing Fallout 3 and Persona 4 is like comparing apples with oranges, but I like to point out that not all generic HD RPGs are 'bad'.

~

Oh, and Persona 4 is still languishing in the last -gen. The time is now to move on.

I'll be waiting for Persona 5 on my 360. I know it'll happen.
 
Bacon5200

110,000 for a PS2 RPG in 2008/2009 is pretty damn decent. Like Josh said, it was probably a case of them just being a little too optimistic with their expectations.

The absence of Devil Summoner 2's US numbers from this report might be the real story here, it released before Devil Survivor and there's no reason to avoid reporting semi-disappointing performance here considering they put a 40,000 unit deficit on the table for all to see. Methinks that might have underperformed in a FAR more spectacular metric.
 

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