Sega confirms Persona 5 Royal pushes series past 13 Million copies sold as franchise sales surpass 23M
Sega dropped some impressive figures in its recent Sega Sammy Holdings 2025 Integrated Report, stating that the Persona 5 series has sold over 13 million copies worldwide. This includes the original Persona 5 from 2016, Persona 5 Royal, and spin-off titles like Persona 5 Strikers, Persona 5 Dancing in Starlight, and Persona 5 Tactica.
These numbers come straight from Sega Sammy’s 2025 integrated financial report, which covers the holding company’s financial results through March 31, 2025. Persona 5 Royal alone went from a modest 1.03 million copies in its first year to a staggering 7.25 million sales as of 2025.
Meanwhile, the entire Persona franchise has surpassed 23.5 million sales globally, with credit going to Persona 3 Reload, which launched on digital storefronts on February 2, 2024, and has already shipped 2.07 million copies.
However, even with these solid sales figures, Sega Sammy Holdings' overall cash flow took a hit last year. For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, the company’s net sales decreased 8.5% to ¥428.9 billion, or approximately $2.79 billion. Furthermore, operating income decreased 16.8% to ¥48.1 billion, or $313 million, resulting in a 11.2% margin.
The reason for this was a decline in Sega’s Pachislot and Pachinko machine business, which accounted for 23% of sales last year, while casino machines made up just 1.3%. On the flip side, entertainment content, specifically video games, animations, merchandise, and toys, accounted for around 75% of gross revenues.
Sega has published some incredible hits in recent years, like Sonic X Shadow Generations, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Sonic Superstars, which sold 2.43 million copies, and Sonic Frontiers, which shipped 4.57 million units, allowing Sega’s game division to thrive.
To keep the momentum rolling, Sega is going for a “transmedia strategy”. In the integrated report, Sega stated, “We believe that concentrated investment to enhance title quality, brand strength reinforced through our transmedia strategy, and the worldwide reach of digital distribution have all contributed to the growth in repeated sales.”
Sega plans to expand its IPs, such as Sonic, Yakuza, Like a Dragon, and Persona, into movies, shows, merch, and more. The end goal is for fans to connect more deeply with their IPs and drive greater financial returns. Sega further stated:
“We are moving forward with roadmaps for each major IP to advance transmedia efforts, thereby increasing user interactions in various sectors.
By cultivating strategic alliances with major platform providers, we intend to enhance the global reach of our IPs, translating this into income through new game releases, recurring sales, free-to-play models, and licensing and development. The profits thus generated are reinvested to enhance IP value further.”
