Square Enix on Persona 5 streaming ban and the importance of worlwide release
Persona 5 has been out since April 4th on the western markets and has been going from strength to strength. Reviews are in love with the game, and with 1.5 million copies shipped, no wonder it has taken over the number spot on UK sales charts from Mass Effect: Andromeda. Atlus seems to can’t go wrong – until they actually did, with the ban on Persona 5 streaming.
In Atlus’ defense, the whole idea of a streaming ban was announced earlier (not that it helped stop the fans from foaming at the mouth). The ban is not complete, as it allows you to show some initial parts of the game up until a certain point in the game, which includes the first boss. The backlash is there because the game actually disables the share button. Of course, this does not stop people from taking screenshots or videos in other ways, so it does seem tedious. Even Square Enix, who have had their share of poor streaming ban decisions with Dragon Quest Heros in 2015, have raised a voice against this kind of ban.
Square Enix’s CEO Yosuke Matsuda stated that users who share gameplay help promote the game. “It generates buzz, resulting in extra attention for game, this exposure is important for selling games”, he said in a recent interview./p>
Matsuda also touched upon the importance of a worldwide release. He claims that gamers might lose interest if a game is released in one region earlier. If the game does not arrive soon to the worldwide market, it could be marked as “old” in the eyes of the players, which is not that far of the mark. Persona 5 was actually released in September 2016 in Japan, and many versions have found their way west, for those lucky ones who actually understand Japanese. Still, it would appear the sales were not hurt by this, but there is something to be said about the high quality of the game itself and how much hype was generated about it.
We will keep our noses out for a whiff on Atlus changing their minds regarding the streaming ban. In the meantime, enjoy your time with Persona 5, check our guides .
