Atlus USA Officially Confirms New Team at Studio Zero, New Fantasy RPG

Following the exciting news that Atlus has opened their new Studio Zero team and are working on a brand new fantasy RPG, Atlus USA has officially confirmed both the new studio and their first game, which they’ve tentatively titled Project Re Fantasy: A Fool’s Journey Begins.

“We take seriously this goal of creating a game with the care and detail expected by the people who love ATLUS games and home console games,” said ATLUS and Persona 5 Director Katsura Hashino in a statement.


“We haven’t determined yet what platform our new game will be, and I imagine this project will take a long time until completion. But we’ll be working hard at this challenge to truly deliver something new and incredible for all our fans.”

Here’s the logo for the game:

The developer points out the studio’s logo is a story within itself: the number 0 is the “Fool” arcana for tarot cards – the origin of which all things come from – accented with the imagery of a young child beginning a journey.

It’s worth mentioning the Japanese branch of Atlus revealed a concept video for the game, which you can view below:

There’s also some new artwork:

Does this mean Atlus is already planning a western release for the game? Only time will tell, but this is certainly exciting to see their localization branch talk up the game so quickly after its announcement. Would you like to see a western release for Re Fantasy? Sound off in the comments below!

Here’s a rundown of the game, via Atlus:


For the game itself, though not much information is available as it is in the earliest of stages of development. But a few things are apparent from the outset – it will be a complete departure from the SMT and Persona series, and a return to the roots of where the Japanese games industry began with fantasy role-playing games. However, as ATLUS has always challenged the prevailing styles of RPG design, it is at the core of Studio Zero’s mission to do this again, imbuing the traditional fantasy RPG with a distinctively ATLUS flavor. Hashino is tapped to be the game’s director, along with other legendary ATLUS names. Along on the journey will be Shigenori Soejima from the ATLUS Artwork Team, responsible for creating the character art of the denizens of this new fantasy world, and Shoji Meguro from the ATLUS Sound Team, who will breathe life and depth into the new world as music composer.

While Hashino is focusing entirely on building Studio Zero from the ground up, Soejima and Meguro will maintain their responsibilities to the Persona series. Likewise, P-Studio, the production team in charge of Persona, will continue to operate at full strength to develop new entries to fulfill demand for the series. As the startup, Studio Zero will be a driving source of innovation for all ATLUS development. Keep an eye out on the official website, rpg.jp for additional updates.


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