Atlus’ approach to making Persona games is akin to “giving users deadly poison wrapped in a sweet coating,” according to producer 

At the CEDEC+KYUSHU 2024 developers’ conference held in Japan on November 23, 2024, Persona series creative producer Kazuhisa Wada held a presentation about various aspects of the franchise, including how Atlus approaches making Persona games now compared to the past. 

According to a detailed report on Wada’s lecture by Game Makers, the creator considers 2006’s Persona 3 to be a turning point for the Persona series and Atlus’ values as a game developer. Before the release of Persona 3, Atlus acted on a set of values Wada nicknames “Only One.” This approach prioritized edginess, shock value and impact, and was characterized by the mindset of making niche games with a “if they like it, they like it, if they don’t, they don’t” kind of attitude.  

Although Wada himself was attracted to Atlus precisely because of this uncompromising policy, he comments that the company culture at the time basically made it “uncool” to even think about whether a game is going to sell or not. 

However, Persona 3 transformed Atlus’s values. As opposed to the previous “Only One” policy, Wada dubs the post-Persona 3 policy “Unique & Universal.” This approach revolves around making content that is both unique and relatable. In other words, this is when Atlus started actively thinking about marketability, as well as making their games understandable and enjoyable for users. 

“To put it more succinctly, it’s like serving players deadly poison wrapped in a sweet coating,” Wada explains. The poison he refers to is the old-school Atlus pursuit of impactful and striking content, while the sweet shell refers to stylish design choices and attractive and comical characters made to appeal to a wide target audience. According to Wada, this “Unique & Universal” approach is something Atlus intends to pursue in the Persona series’ future as well.

With Sega recently calling Atlus one of their most successful acquisitions to date in the face of strong Persona and Metaphor: ReFantazio sales, it seems this tactic is working well for the developer.