New JRPG giant Metaphor: ReFantazio beats all Persona games to become Atlus’ fastest-selling title and biggest Steam launch

Update: Developer Atlus’ first original game since 2011’s Catherine has been outperforming its biggest, longest-running franchises.

After only one day on store shelves, Metaphor ReFantazio has already crushed two massive milestones for what’s arguably the best JRPG studio in the world right now. Atlus yesterday announced that its “completely new fantasy RPG Metaphor: ReFantazio has surpassed one million copies sold worldwide!”

For context, this year’s Persona 3 Reload became Atlus’ fastest-selling game ever after selling over one million copies in a week. Metaphor: ReFantazio matched those numbers in a single day, and swiftly overtook a much-hyped entry in inarguably the developer’s biggest franchise.

PC numbers paint a similar picture, too. According to SteamDB data, Metaphor: ReFantazio also attracted more concurrent players in its opening day than any other release in Atlus’ relatively short stint on the platform with over 64,000 people jumping in to bash beasts and befriend fairies at the same time. The previous record holder was, again, Persona 3 Reload, which managed to attract 45,000 concurrent players, though I imagine that gap will grow as more people settle in with the new genre giant over the course of this weekend.

Original Story: Metaphor: ReFantazio has only been out for a few hours, but it’s already smashed through Persona 5 Royal’s concurrent player record on Steam, and it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down any time soon, either. 

The enormous new fantasy JRPG from Studio Zero was met with critical acclaim when its reviews went live earlier this week – including from my own Metaphor: ReFantazio review for GamesRadar+, in which I gave the game four and a half stars out of five. It appears that its player count is set to reflect that, because it’s taken no time at all to soar to 38,713 concurrent players on Steam – on a weekday, hours after launch – and surpassing Persona 5 Royal’s all-time peak of 35,474, which it set two days after its release in 2022.

Despite coming from the creators of Persona 3, 4, and 5, Metaphor: ReFantazio isn’t a Persona game, although in some ways, it certainly feels like one. Even so, Persona 5 Royal – the definitive edition of Atlus’ 2016 JRPG – has felt like the one to follow. It’s held onto its fanbase tightly for years, and there’s a reason why it’s widely considered to be one of the best JRPGs of all time. Clearly though, Metaphor: ReFantazio might be on track to be just as beloved. 

At the time of writing, Metaphor: ReFantazio’s Steam concurrent player count record is still lagging behind Persona 3 Reload’s, which hit 45,002 a couple of days after its launch in February. Given that I’ve already had to edit what Metaphor’s own record is twice while writing this story, however, it’s fair to say that there’s a good chance it’ll overtake the remake yet.

Atlus games are usually huge, but how long is Metaphor: ReFantazio? Be sure to check out our guide to see how much time you can expect to spend in the United Kingdom of Euchronia.