As the Persona and Yakuza series fly beyond 20 million sales each, Sega says its JRPG successes are thanks to the power of multi-platform releases

The Persona series has now reached over 23 million players worldwide and Yakuza almost 28 million – and Sega says that this fast-growing success can be attributed to a few key choices regarding games’ releases.

According to Sega’s Annual Integrated Report for 2024, both the Persona and Like a Dragon franchises are flying. The former series boasts 23.5 million copies sold while the latter has hit a whopping 27.7 million sales worldwide. These impressive figures include digital and physical sales, with the Persona 5 line of games and spin-off titles accounting for over 10 million copies sold alone – almost half of the series’ lifetime sales.

The JRPGs’ success, as Sega describes it, comes for a few reasons – with the first being the publisher’s multi-platform approach to launches. It also comes down to simultaneous worldwide releases, with statements from one of last year’s quarterly reports highlighting plans for future titles like Persona 6 to drop across multiple platforms globally on day one. Sega cites remasters and spin-offs as factors for sales growth, too, with recent examples like Persona 3 Reload.

Earlier this year, the remaster of the beloved 2006 entry was released following the very standards Sega says are responsible for high sales – Persona 3 Reload launched across all systems worldwide at once on February 2. It certainly seems to be working for the company, and as a longtime fan of JRPG series like Persona and action-adventure gems such as Like a Dragon, I’m happy not to have to wait for any delayed global releases.

Not sure what to play next? Here are the best Yakuza games, all ranked conveniently in order for easy browsing.