After a year of living vicariously through translated screenshots, Persona 5 fans are going feral as The Phantom X finally has a global release date – but there are already gacha concerns

Persona 5: The Phantom X — (Image credit: Black Wings Game Studio, Atlus, Sega)

After a year of not being available in regions outside of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and South Korea, The Phantom X, Black Wings Game Studio's Persona 5 mobile spin-off, is finally getting a global release – but not all fans are excited.

The new global release date announcement comes just days after entertainment conglomerate Sega Sammy's end-of-year financial results presentation revealed that The Phantom X is on its way to Japan this summer. According to Sega and Atlus, the Persona 5 spin-off is now set to drop worldwide this summer, too, on June 26, and it's going to be available to play on both mobile platforms, including iOS and Android devices, as well as PC.

It's big news for the Persona community, as a solid year has now passed since The Phantom X first launched its open beta for mobile users in Chinese territories on April 12, 2024. As one fan exclaims on an online post discussing the June 26 release date, "GOTY COMING OUT SOON." Another person comments that they're "so ready" for the game to be available globally – one can only get so far with fan-translated screenshots, after all.

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Release Date P5X 26 June! from r/PERSoNA

Not everyone feels the same about The Phantom X getting its worldwide launch, however. Understandably, many prospective players are concerned about the game's gacha elements and its status as a free-to-play title. A Reddit thread highlighting the upcoming release sees some of these worries shared by longtime Persona fans, with one simply asking underneath the original post, "Is this F2P friendly?"

Various other responses echo that very sentiment, with somebody similarly questioning if "anyone can give me a verdict on how F2P friendly this game is?" Others are willing to try The Phantom X as its "story gets really good" before deciding: "I will play this and give it a chance, even though I'm not into gacha games and don't enjoy playing them." As a longtime Persona stan myself, I think I'll do the same and go from there.

Need even more to look forward to? Here are other new games coming this year and beyond.

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After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.

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