Atlus Director Teases 'JRPG 3.0' After Metaphor Success, Raising Questions for Persona 6
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Metaphor: ReFantazio director Katsura Hashino has outlined a vision for 'JRPG 3.0' at G-Star 2025, sparking community speculation about how this next-gen philosophy will shape the long-awaited Persona 6.
Speaking at the G-Star 2025 conference, reported by 4gamer and translated by Games Radar, Katsura Hashino outlined a vision for the future of Japanese role-playing games. The creative mind behind Metaphor: ReFantazio and modern Persona titles categorized the genre's evolution into three distinct eras. He defined JPRG 1.0 as the foundational classics, JPRG 2.0 as the responsive and high quality standard of the current generation, and JPRG 3.0 as an upcoming evolutionary leap. While Hashino kept specific details under wraps, he noted that this next phase will introduce a greater dimension that fundamentally alters structural and presentation norms.
This framework arrives just as Atlus balances looking backward and forward. Metaphor: ReFantazio was framed as a culmination of the studio's 35-year history and fits comfortably into the JRPG 2.0 framework, while the studio has simultaneously revisited the past through Persona 3 Reload and an upcoming Persona 4 remake. At the same time, the franchise has expanded into mobile markets with Persona 5: The Phantom X and explored various spin-offs, proving that Atlus is comfortable tinkering with distribution platforms and genre boundaries.
For players deeply invested in the community and future of the series, the big question is how this philosophy impacts the heavily anticipated Persona 6. Atlus has acknowledged the project sparingly, noting the steep challenge of following up on the massive cultural footprint of Persona 5. As the studio weighs its next major release, fans are watching closely to see whether Persona 6 will stick to familiar pillars like the Velvet Room or embrace Hashino's call for a structural revolution. Original reporting comes via Ed Nightingale at Eurogamer.
Original Source: Eurogamer
Tags: Persona 6, Metaphor ReFantazio, Atlus, JRPG, Gaming News
Original article: Eurogamer