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Persona 5 PC Fan Project Shut Down By Atlus

Emulation is problematic, Atlus says.

By Eddie Makuch on September 28, 2017 at 10:12AM PDT

After taking a hard line against streamers earlier this year (before loosening its policies a bit), Atlus is back in the news for taking action against the community over Persona 5. Earlier this week, Atlus issued a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice over the fan project RPCS3, which is a PS3 emulator that was used in connection with Persona 5. Using the emulator, Persona 5 could work on PC, a platform it does not officially support.

In a statement, Atlus said it took action for two main reasons. The first is that Atlus believes the best way to experience a game like Persona 5 is on the platform it was made for. "We don't want their first experiences to be framerate drops, or crashes, or other issues that can crop up in emulation that we have not personally overseen," Atlus said.

No Caption Provided

The company went on to say that it's aware Persona 5 fans would like a PC edition. And though there is no news about that right now, Atlus teased, "We are listening!"

The other main reason why Atlus took action is because of its wider policy of being more protective of its properties. The company says it's aware of the good and the bad that emulation can bring about.

"We appreciate the awareness generated by the emulation community for Persona 5 and know that it is a fantastic example of how much people are loving our game," Atlus said. "We want to keep bringing you titles like Persona 5. Unfortunately, when our content is illegally circumvented and potentially made available for free, in a format we do not think delivers the experience and quality we intend, it undermines our ability to do so by diverting potential support from new audiences."

Atlus ended its note by saying it hopes it can have an ongoing dialogue with fans about this topic, encouraging players to send in feedback.

As part of its DMCA notice, all references to Persona 5 have been taken off the RPCS3 Patreon page and website, people on Reddit discovered. The emulator is still available.

Persona 5 is available only on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3. GameSpot's review scored the game a 9/10, with reviewer Lucy James saying, "It's a refined, effortlessly stylish RPG that will be talked about for years to come."

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Edited By bayshun

Headline is total click bait; nothing has been shut down. References to Persona 5 on a website were removed, and that's all.

3 • 7 years ago

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you people need to realise the difference between piracy and emulation; one may influence the other but they aren't the same thing, if they were then physical (on disc) emulators would also be illegal (which they aren't).

Upvote • 7 years ago

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I'm with Atlus on this. They didn't want to endorse this product, it's that simple..no news here.

Atlus made another gaming experience. They don't owe it to anyone, especially to a company like this.

6 • 7 years ago

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deactivated-5c56012aaa167

Funny how Atlus is so Butt hurt over this.

Resident Evil Remake was Playable in the Gamecube Emulator for 6 years and it didn't stopped the HD remaster to become Successful.

5 • 7 years ago

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Lol that is funny

Upvote • 7 years ago

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Edited By Howmakewood

Nice headline, except they didn't shut the emulator down, all Atlus accomplished is that more people know about the PS3 emulator, money well spent.

5 • 7 years ago

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Pirate master race.

4 • 7 years ago

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Edited By RyanBurnsRed

@Ant_17: This is made possible because of console piracy

2 • 7 years ago

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@Ant_17: jealous you were stupid enough to pay $60+ for the game while PC gamers can potentially get it for free with better visuals and performance? XD

3 • 7 years ago

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@Dark_sageX: Yeah, i'm so jealous that the guy making the emulator gets 3k on his patreon for you morons to play it free.

3 • 7 years ago

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Pirates deserve no sympathy, especially when they're playing a good game for free and developers don't get any profit from them.

4 • 7 years ago

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@soliaired50: If they want profit then stop bugging PC gamers with their exclusivity BS and release it on PC, otherwise go cry in some corner, you corporate slave.

3 • 7 years ago

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Edited By Soliaired50

@Dark_sageX: So you admit to stealing products and robbing developers of their hard work, money, and effort. Some companies don't have any obligations to release their games on other platforms if they don't want to. So why don't you go and cry over in that corner, the true peasants of the industry that refuses to buy other platforms and instead has to pirate games just to play them for free, while some of us gets to enjoy every world they have to offer and at the same time support our favourite developers.

PS I own almost every system (excluding the Switch which I will get once Mario comes out) as well as PC so I certainly am not a corporate slave nor a thief and beggar, so I will be able to enjoy every game regardless of what system they come out on. Facepalm, not even gonna bother replying to your sorry excuses, especially when you throw insults everywhere. It's clear you have the mentality of a child that just cannot be reasoned with.

5 • 7 years ago

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@soliaired50:

a) "We" didn't "steal" anything, Persona 5 is not on PC, there was never anything there to steal in the first place, the devs worked "hard" for PS3 and PS4 owners, they didn't care enough about PC gamers to make something for them, so "we" don't owe them anything.

b) Costumers are not obligated to buy an entire platform just to have access to their games, if the publishers want PC gamers to buy their games, then make a game FOR PC GAMERS.

c) There is more to emulating besides getting a free copy (which is a false premise anyway since there are plenty of people with original copies of the game that run them through emulators because all emulators have the option of running games from optical drives, goes to show you are the peasant who knows nothing) emulators allow for games that are not available on PC to take advantage of PC hardware to enhance the gaming experience, thanks to emulators I can enjoy games like F-Zero GX at 1080p (or even 4k), as opposed to looking at how ugly it looks and runs on the gamecube, and I already bought the game so you can shove your "piracy" claim else where.

d) Again with the "support developers crap" (because ATLUS is NOT a rich company/sarcasm), you fail to understand that developers are supposed to appeal to US the gamers and not the other way around, supply and DEMAND, not supply and OBEY, if they want OUR money then they should do what WE want, not tell us what we should do, the emulator programmers understood that and thus opened a patreon, and guess what? he is getting payed well for it, its ATLUS' fault for not providing, now they can STILL get money if they announce a PC port, but if they would rather play wallstreet bankers with Sony instead then they can go lick a donkey's ass, PC gamers owe them nothing.

e) having a PC or a console doesn't exempt you from being a corporate slave, you are a corporate slave because you blindly follow and defend anything developers do or say without fore thought and pay for it as well, and then advocate for obeying them like a sheep and demonize anyone who doesn't.

d) Thanks to emulators I can enjoy those games without having to pay the $300-$500+ premium just to access them, so suck it.

6 • 7 years ago

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Edited By Bastion00

@Dark_sageX: Yeh. I own the game and the PS4 and I'd love to have an emulator that'd let me play it on my PC. I agree with what you're saying all the way, though.

Upvote • 7 years ago

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Edited By OmniChris

Didn't get taken down did it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPuw4RZUYBw

"Modders DEFEAT DMCA Takedown! - The Know Game News"

A win for emulators. :)

2 • 7 years ago

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All these lame ass pirates are so butthurt that Atlus won't let them play their game for free. If you wanna play Persona 5 you go buy it and support the developers. Simple as that

10 • 7 years ago

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@valgaav_219: But the pirates are playing the game for free. Atlus can't take DMCA take down the emulator. Not even Sony can. You might want to read more than just the headline of the article before commenting.

4 • 7 years ago

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@RyanBurnsRed: As a matter of fact I did read the whole article. My comment was in response to all of the other whiny ass comments.

4 • 7 years ago

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@valgaav_219: Don't give me that crap, if they bothered to release it on PC then they would have their damn money.

3 • 7 years ago

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Edited By uncle5555

What's even more sad, is when you can pick up a used/working PS3 for $25-30 right now. (before anyone asks, I just looked on Ebay for functioningsystems and found 2 in that price range)

So at this point do you REALLY need an emulator? Considering most PC builds don't have optical drives these days let alone a bluray drive, so how do you play your "legit" PS3 copy....oh right you play a rip. ;-) O_o;

I'm not raising a fuss with a functional PS3 emulator, I love what emulators can do, the Patreon thing is debatable, but I'm not crossing that bridge here.

Just saying their is other legit options, that are cheap to play it legitimately and not get Atlus all riled up in the process...

4 • 7 years ago

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@uncle5555: Can I play Persona 5 at 4k with a PS3? at 60fps? add AA? use save slots to give old games a save function? and many MANY more options that can enhance the game experience? yeah, didn't think that one through did you?

Also you DO know you can put in a Blu-ray reader/writer on a PC right? or get an external optical drive? I mean did you honestly think you were being clever with that comment?

The patreon thing is not debate, its perfectly legal.

Do you honestly think people with emulators can't afford used consoles? has it ever occurred to you that the reason why people use emulators because emulators are far superior to the original platform?

2 • 7 years ago

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Edited By Xristophoros

@uncle5555: cheap people are gonna be cheap. even if ps3's were free, they would pirate the game on their pc's because that's what they do and do it well :D

pc piracy is the curse that looms over the entire industry. it is story's like these that give publishers no reason to publish their games on pc.

3 • 7 years ago

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@uncle5555: A PS3 is not $25-30 unless you want to buy one from a shady seller.

That's just false as it is usually 4-6x times that price and the game itself is about $50 American dollars (more in other places in the world).

3 • 7 years ago

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@TalesOfGod: Or not even released at all in some countries.

2 • 7 years ago

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Edited By Exceed20XX

Emulation's a thing and Atlus didn't release a PC version. It's no surprise at all that this was happening when they left whatever potential money could've been made there on the table. The same thing happened with Wii U emulation and Breath of the Wild and yet I don't recall nearly as much noise when that was covered on sites like PC Gamer etc.

I'm just surprised that Sega hasn't pushed them to consider the platform more given that they own Atlus now and Sega's been aggressive about expanding its PC presence.

5 • 7 years ago

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pathetic. the pc beggars involved in this would prefer to play a bug ridden--spotty performance version of a game rather than a proper port because they are too cheap to purchase the hardware. a ps3 with p5 would not cost all that much these days. using piracy to get noticed won't help your efforts -- in fact it will only prove to publishers such as atlus that the pc market is not a viable option for releasing their games. well done.

7 • 7 years ago

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@Xristophoros: lol you are one salty console peasant, does it make you upset that your favorite greedy developer is not getting any money because of their stupidity? XD

2 • 7 years ago

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Edited By Xristophoros

@timmyp1982: that's why i said: "the pc beggars involved in this". also, the game is great and will be on many top 10 2017 goty lists.

7 • 7 years ago

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@timmyp1982: well, i think p5 will be in the running for many goty awards but won't take the top spot for most categories. it may win art direction and best jrpg on some lists, though. i am in my early 30s and enjoy p5 quite a bit -- this is coming from someone who does not like the vast majority of jrpg's these days due to their weak storytelling, generic anime tropes and cutesy aesthetic -- but persona 5 manages to break out of that mold in many interesting ways. it is the best jrpg in years without a doubt. i don't know where you stand on the genre or if you were a classic final fantasy fan or not...

7 • 7 years ago

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Edited By BigGamerDude

@timmyp1982: do you not fucking read his comment?

"TOP 10 GOTY" jesus. He never said it will win GOTY just that it will be in the top 10

"older crowds dont play these games" Yeah, bullshit. My 36-year old IT teacher plays Persona 5, its not an obscure game. Older people DO play this and KH

5 • 7 years ago

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Edited By deactivated-5e83c14458072

@timmyp1982: You are doing a great job at representing the PC community. Absolutely clueless about a whole genre and its audiance's demographic.

4 • 7 years ago

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Edited By deactivated-5e83c14458072

@timmyp1982: Have you even read anything related to Persona and what makes it an excellent JRPG? It's no coincidence that absolutely everyone who has played this game, and has at least a tiny idea reagarding the general aspects of the genre, has loved it. We're talking about grown people who review games for a living.

3 • 7 years ago

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@timmyp1982: I wish you could be a jerk to everyone in a SLS, and remain solo for the whole story. P5 is not a real, in depth SLS like I wish to see on the market... but then again it's focused on high schoolers only.

I want a harsh SLS with edgy teens!

Upvote • 7 years ago

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The main, and most obvious reason is that distributing the game to people on PC for FREE is piracy. Obviously if people can play the game for free on PC it will have an impact on console sales.

I'm sure you broke children who like stealing are super upset by this, but tough crap. You would have to be an idiot to not recognize why Atlus would try to stop people from illegally distributing it's property.

4 • 7 years ago

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Edited By Exceed20XX

@joejoe1639: Here's the thing though, the game isn't being distributed with the emulation program. Atlus just got upset that P5 was a demo piece for what the emulator could run. Frankly, that's a bit of a poor response. Notice this bit at the bottom of the dev's site: "We do not support piracy. All PlayStation 3 games should be self-dumped."

Emulation has always required the user to provide the game data themselves. There are obviously wrong ways to go about this but that doesn't mean there isn't a proper way to use a copy you legally own in some cases (some emulators can read the actual game discs.)

2 • 7 years ago

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Edited By JoeJoe1639

@Exceed20XX: Emulation rarely requires the user provide the game data themselves; most emulators come packaged with massive libraries of usually older games.

Atlus's response also doesn't indicate that they believe P5 was just a demo piece. If you read the article, Atlus is specifically quoted saying the game being made available for free was part of their issue with this.

Maybe Atlus is misunderstanding the situation, but if nothing proprietary is actually being distributed there's nothing that Atlus can do really, so who cares? Unless Atlus was attacking them for using P5 to advertise the emulator, instead of attacking the emulator itself; in which case Atlus does have a salient point.

Upvote • 7 years ago

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isnt the main reason is no piracy, those some nice word from atlus

Upvote • 7 years ago

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Edited By maitkarro

"in a format we do not think delivers the experience and quality we intend"

They can **** a duck, emulators become superior in the long run compared to the console counterpart.

That's the best example if purists would be game devs or publishers, they have no open mind for options. If they do something they want everyone to experience it in one way, and any other option is out of the question. Basically you either get it they way we want or you don't get it at all.

2 • 7 years ago

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Edited By Djungelurban

This changes nothing though. Atlus can't stop the development of the emulator since emulators are legal and they can't prevent that emulator from emulating Persona 5 since emulation is legal. And Patreon has publicly refused to act against the Patreon since again, emulation is legal. Heck, the dev didn't even have to remove the mention of Persona if they didn't want to (probably just did it to not make enemies within Atlus) because Atlus doesn't have a legal case here since to conclude, emulation is legal.

Upvote • 7 years ago

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