The Persona 5 Royal Western release date may have been leaked thanks to a PlayStation Store listing that went public earlier in Indonesia and Taiwan, both of which suggest that an English and Chinese version of the game are coming relatively soon. Persona 5 Royal is the upcoming re-release of the widely-praised JRPG that made Persona a much more popular series in the west, and the game has been so resonant with fans that developers Atlus and P Studio created a re-release that will include a slew of new content.
The most exciting addition coming to Persona 5 Royal is the addition of Kasumi, a brand new playable character exclusive to the game that will join the Phantom Thieves. On top of that, Persona 5 Royal will offer some more story content for fans as well as new dungeons to explore, making it a worthwhile addition to the franchise despite largely being the same game that fans enjoyed when it originally released in 2016. The game has already released in Japan, and was well-received by consumers, so fans in the west have been eager for more news regarding the title, with Atlus promising to reveal something officially tomorrow.
As it turns out, however, Persona 5 Royal's Western release date may have already been leaked thanks to a PlayStation Store listing for Indonesia and Taiwan. The release date listed appears to have Persona 5 Royal tagged for a February 20, 2020 release in both English and Chinese. That would likely mean that the English version of the game applies to all western territories as well, which makes it seem like a pretty safe bet for the release dates in North America and Europe, even though the English/Chinese language versions of Persona 5 Royal listed are specifically for Indonesia and Taiwan.
There is a major caveat however - most games don't typically release on Thursdays, which is what Persona 5 Royal would be releasing on with that date. With that said, Taiwan and Indonesia are both pretty far ahead in terms of time zones when compared to other English-speaking areas, so it's possible Persona 5 Royal may release within a range of a few days of the release date, with a staggered launch globally based on region. If nothing else, the leaked date appears to give fans a time window for when to expect the western release of Persona 5 Royal.
Luckily, fans don't need to wait very long to find out what the truth of the matter is. Atlus has a Persona 5 Royal announcement ready for tomorrow, December 3, 2019, and it's with just enough breathing room and distance away from The Game Awards that it feels like it will be something major - like the long-awaited launch date.
Persona 5 Royal is available now in Japan, and is rumored to release on February 20, 2020 in the west.
Source: PlayStation Store Taiwan, PlayStation Store Indonesia