Persona 5 is a role-playing video game developed by Atlus for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. Persona 5 is chronologically the sixth installment in the Persona series, which is part of the larger Megami Tensei franchise. It was released in Japan in September 2016, and worldwide in April 2017, where it was published by Atlus in Japan and North America and by Deep Silver in Europe and Australia.
Persona 5 takes place in modern- day Tokyo, and follows the player-named protagonist after his transfer to the fictional Shujin Academy after being put on probation for an assault of which he was falsely accused. During the course of a school year, he and other students awaken to their Persona powers, becoming a group of secret vigilantes known as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts who explore the Metaverse, a supernatural realm consisting of the physical manifestation of humanity's subconscious desires, to change malevolent intent from the hearts of adults. As with previous titles in the series, the party does battle with enemies known as Shadows using physical manifestations of their psyche, called Personas. The game incorporates role-playing and dungeon crawling elements alongside social simulation scenarios.
Preparatory work began around the same time as the development of Persona 4, with full development beginning after the release of Catherine in 2011. The game was developed by P- Studio, an internal development studio within Atlus led by game director and producer Katsura Hashino. Along with Hashino, returning staff from earlier entries included character designer Shigenori Soejima and composer Shoji Meguro.
