A letter from Persona5: The Phantom X Operations Team
Greetings, Thieves. Thank you for your patience and ongoing support. Since launch this past June, we've received a significant amount of player feedback. We've heard your feedback, and while some aspects haven't met expectations, we're committed to making meaningful improvements.
In this letter, we hope to answer your questions and concerns based on the feedback we have received so far, especially regarding the differences with the Chinese/Asia versions, the Contracts system, as well as shed some light on future updates. As a note, we will be referring to Phantom Thieves and Phantom Idols as "Characters" in this letter.
Implementation of a New Contracts System
We have received a lot of requests to implement the Contracts that guarantees the Most Wanted 5★ character that is in the Chinese/Asia versions, and we are currently considering its implementation for the Japanese/Western versions as well.
▽The Current Main Contracts System (Please see the in-game Contract Rates page for more details)
• If you didn't obtain a 5★ from the previous 79 draws, the next draw guarantees a 5★.
• If a non-Most Wanted 5★ Phantom Thief was obtained, the next 5★ you obtain is guaranteed to be the Most Wanted 5★.
*Please note that some Contracts like the Newcomer Contracts and Arms Deals have different systems.
▽The New Contracts System that will be Implemented (Please wait for future announcements for further details)
• If you didn't obtain a 5★ from the previous 109 draws, the next draw guarantees a 5★.
• The 5★ you obtain is guaranteed to be the Most Wanted 5★.
*Please note that some Contracts like the Newcomer Contracts and Arms Deals have different systems.
▽Implementation Period and Other Notes
In the Chinese/Asia versions, this Contracts was implemented 6 months after release.
For the Japanese/Western versions, we are currently making adjustments in order to release it earlier.
After the release of this new Contracts system, the current Contracts system will also continue to be made available. However, please note that the number of draws until the guaranteed 5★ is counted separately between the two Contracts systems.
The two Contracts systems have differing rates and draw counts, so please check the details once it's implemented, and pick the one that best fits your own playstyle. Please wait for further announcements for the details and implementation period.
Minami Miyashita's Cognitite and 5★ Weapon
In the Chinese/Asia versions, players were able to obtain Minami Miyashita's Cognitite and 5★ Weapon from Lufel's "Business" Plan III and IV, respectively.
In the Japanese/Western versions, Plan III and IV were implemented earlier compared to the Chinese/Asia versions. In the Chinese/Asia versions, Minami Miyashita was already available in the Gold Ticket Contracts when Plan III and IV were implemented.
As a result, there is a difference in the rewards for Plan III and IV between the two versions. We are very sorry for this inconvenience.
For the Japanese/Western versions, we plan to provide a new method for players to obtain the Cognitite and Weapon. We are preparing a special campaign that will also benefit those who obtained duplicates of Minami Miyashita and her Weapon. The details for this campaign will be in the latter half of this letter.
Addition of New Characters to the Gold Ticket Contracts (Phantom Idol Draft X)
We have received a lot of feedback and requests regarding the addition of new characters to the Phantom Idol Draft X, which uses Gold Tickets.
In the Chinese/Asia versions, some 5★ Phantom Idols, including the ones listed below, were added to the Phantom Idol Draft X immediately after their Most Wanted period.
In the Japanese/Western versions, we plan to add them roughly 6 months after their initial release. Among the Characters that appear in the game up to version 1.4, the Phantom Idols that will be added to the Phantom Idol Draft X are as follows:
▽Phantom Idols
• 5★ Minami Miyashita
• 5★ Yumi Shiina
*Each character's 5★ Weapons will also be added to the Arms Deals at the same time.
Frequency of New Characters and Free Rewards
We have received feedback saying that due to the speed of updates, it is difficult for players to save up Contracts currency such as Tickets and Coins.
▽Obtaining Tickets (Platinum and Gold) and Milicoins
We have prepared multiple avenues for players to obtain Contracts currency (Tickets and Coins), such as through login rewards and by playing through the content. We plan to release a large-scale update with version 2.0 in September. To celebrate this update, players will be able to obtain 20 Platinum Tickets and 20 Platinum Milicoins through the Login Bonus.
We are planning to hold many other campaigns as well. The details are in the latter half of this letter and will be announced at a later date.
Paid Items
We would like to share details on the paid item offerings available in the Shop.
▽Changes from the Chinese/Asia versions
In the Japanese/Western versions, some items that were offered in the Shop of the Chinese/Asia versions were changed. These changes were made to comply with platform regulations as well as the laws in Japan and the countries of the Western version. We also plan to offer new items for the Japanese/Western versions to replace the items that cannot be sold. Although it is difficult to have the item offerings be exactly the same between the two versions, we will do our best to make sure that the overall value of the items is as close as possible.
Upcoming Features and Campaigns
We would like to talk about upcoming features and campaigns that are planned for version 2.0 onwards.
▽Tasks (Name not final)
We are currently working on a feature where players can obtain various items by dispatching Characters of their choosing. Through Tasks (Name not final), players can obtain a special item once a week called Thief's Cognitite Shard. Players can exchange 60 of this special item for Cognitite that can be used to increase the Awareness Level of a character.
We plan to release this feature in version 2.0.
▽Lufel's "Business" Plan EX (Name not final)
We plan to add an expansion to Lufel's "Business" Plan as a brand-new feature for the Japanese/Western versions. The rewards for this feature will make it easier for players to Forge their 5★ Weapons and can be obtained through daily play. We will announce when this feature will be added at a later date.
▽Thief's Cognitite Shard
By gathering 60 of this rare item, players can exchange it for Cognitite that can be used to Awaken the Awareness of Characters.
In the Chinese/Asia versions, the Thief's Cognitite Shards can only be used to Awaken Characters that are in the Gold Ticket Contracts.
In the Japanese/Western versions, this feature will also extend to other 5★ Characters like Ren Amamiya, Minami Miyashita, Yui, Yusuke Kitagawa, Makoto Niijima, and Yumi Shiina.
*In version 2.0, some of the characters above will be available for exchange. Details will be announced at a later date.
This item can be obtained from the Tasks feature that will be released in version 2.0.
▽Thief's Cognitite Shard and 5★ Weapon Special Gift Campaigns (Name not final)
This is the previously mentioned campaign where players can obtain Minami Miyashita's Cognitite and 5★ Weapon.
Around mid to late September, we plan to hold a special campaign exclusive to the Japanese/Western versions where players can obtain Thief's Cognitite Shards and a 5★ Weapon.
In this campaign, players will have the opportunity to obtain 60 Thief's Cognitite Shards that can be exchanged for the Cognitite of one of the available 5★ Characters.
Following that, we also plan to hold a gift campaign where players can select one 5★ Weapon to obtain. The selection lineup also includes Minami Miyashita's 5★ Weapon.
Other Weapons included in the lineup will be announced later.
The details and timing of the campaigns will be announced at a later date.
We hope you can make full use of this opportunity to obtain these very high-value items.
Closing Words
Thank you very much for reading all the way to the end. We wanted to use this letter as an opportunity to address feedback regarding the differences with the Chinese/Asia versions that were released earlier, as well as let players know about the upcoming updates and campaigns.
▽New Initiatives with the Japanese/Western Versions
In this letter, we hoped to answer some of the feedback regarding the differences with the Chinese/Asia versions and tell you about some of the planned updates and campaigns that are unique to the Japanese/Western versions.
We've noticed that many Japanese/Western players are progressing through the Palaces and Story in one continuous playthrough, and smaller things like building characters, City Life activities, and character interactions are reserved for shorter, daily sessions. We hope to enhance our players' experience with some form of change or growth in their daily play through these new initiatives.
We talked about Lufel's "Business" Plan EX, improvements to the Thief's Cognitite Shards, and gift campaigns in this letter. We will continue to make improvements following feedback to better match the playstyle of our players in the Japanese/Western versions.
We will continue to communicate with our players on the website, X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube through announcements and letters as well as the official broadcast regarding updates and improvements.
▽The Future
We are currently preparing initiatives that will release around the same time for both the Japanese/Western versions and the Chinese/Asia versions. Preparations are currently underway so that we can provide a new experience to all regions simultaneously. Please look forward to future announcements.
In addition to the campaigns and features detailed in this letter, we plan to have various events and story additions with each update.
We will strive to provide a better gaming experience for all our players moving forward. We hope you will continue to enjoy Persona 5: The Phantom X.
Persona5: The Phantom X Operations Team
