Following the February 14, 2017 North American release date announcement for Persona 5 on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 earlier this week, Atlus USA PR Manager John Hardin addressed some concerns about potential censorship on the box art.
As Hardin explained on Twitter, the change to the box art was done simply because of the ESRB logo placement and size:
Was not expecting this, BUT. The changes to P5 boxart is because the ESRB and CERO placement/sizes are different. We didn’t want to hide Morgana’s face, so we adjusted the placement. Take the tinfoil hats off.
He adds that the design of the box art isn’t final yet.
Asked if the game itself will be censored, Hardin replied, “We’re going to localize it with the same standards we localize every ATLUS title. We are publishing it as well, so it will stay true.”
Elsewhere on Twitter, he confirmed that Persona 5 will 100% be in English, but they’ll look at adding Japanese voice-over as DLC:
RE: P5 japanese audio in NA, temper expectations. We’re throwing everything into English dub, and game will 100% be in English.
I’m asking if the Japanese VO DLC/addon route is even viable, and that’s a monumentally massive task. I hope it can work out, but right now, all we can confirm and that you should expect at launch is English dub.
If you’re wondering about Persona 5 in Europe, he said, “No news, but we know you’re thirsty for it and other ATLUS/SEGA titles. Don’t Panic.”
Over on the PlayStation Blog, Hardin was asked if PlayStation 2 Persona and Shin Megami Tensei games might come to PS4. “We had a cursory talk about that, but it hasn’t really gone anywhere since,” he replied. “Everyone’s too busy working on Persona 5.”
[Source: John Hardin (Twitter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, PS Blog via Destructoid, Game Idealist]
