Persona 5 maker Atlus has issued a takedown notice to the PS3 emulator RPCS3 and its Patreon crowdfunding page. RPCS3, a popular PS3 emulator for PCs, has been promoting that their program is compatible with Persona 5.
Atlus, which has been very particular about Persona, has asked players to play the game on the console as intended.
In a statement on its website, Atlus says, “We believe that our fans best experience our titles (like Persona 5) on the actual platforms for which they are developed.”
Further, the company said that it does not want the experience of customers to be ruined by fragmented drops, crashes or any other issues that could occur with an emulation. Atlus further stated that it is aware of the buzz within the emulation community regarding Persona 5, but if its content is available on formats it was never intended to be on, it will hurt its ability to offer new content, as support for the new audience will be diverted to such platforms.
RPCS3 also said that Atlus noted in its statement that the PS3 emulator is not infringing upon any copyrights or trademarks. Rather, it does not believe that any version of the P5 game “should be playable on this platform; and [the RPCS3] developers are infringing on our IP by making such games playable.”
Further, after Patreon turned down Atlus’ demands, stating that the page is not infringing the Atlus’ IP in any way, Atlus reportedly said, “We kindly ask that you remove both for this reason – to make Persona 5 work on the emulator, the user has to circumvent our DRM protections.”
Thereafter, the company showed a link to a section of the Patreon account which offers instructions on how to “dump” the Persona 5 software from a disc or PSN download. In a Reddit note, RPCS3 said it is skeptical about Atlus’ argument that Persona 5 should be withdrawn from PCs.
“Why Atlus would choose this time to target this project will probably never be known,” the developers wrote.
RPCS3 assured players that both RPCS3 and Patreon are safe, as the emulator is open-source, and users are allowed to create their own versions from legal PS3 copies of the game.
However, to be safe, the reference to Persona 5 has been removed from both Patreon and the official webpages. In the RPCS3 project, there were many references to Persona 5, including its ability to allow users to play the game on PCs. The site also promised that future updates will allow payers to get a better experience of the title.
Though emulators are not illegal in the eyes of the law, many in the gaming community view them as pathways to piracy. Some of the most popular emulators, like the Wii U emulator CEMU, do not want to be in the crosshairs of big companies, but Atlus is known to be highly protective of its properties. Just this past April, the company came up with a strict policy against streamers who play Persona 5. Altus warned streamers that it might take down videos on account of excessive play. However, the restrictions did not last long due to the negative fan outburst, notes Kotaku.
