"Persona 5" is one of the best JRPGs released in the last few years, sitting at an impressive 93% on Metacritic, making it the third highest rated title on the Playstation 4. Due to receiving such a warm welcome, it is not surprising that players who do not own the console are trying to find other means to play Atlus' game.
RPCS3 is an emulator designed to run PlayStation 3 titles on a PC, with the PS3 version of "Persona 5" being one game which actually works quite well. Crowdfunded via Patreon, Atlus issued a DMCA takedown notice for the emulator and its related page.
Takedown order
The Japnese company explained on their website the reasoning behind their DMCA takedown order. In this page, Atlus thanks fans for their interest in the company's JRPG but believes "Persona 5" is best experienced on the platforms it was developed for.
Divided into two separate points, the first focuses on the experience one would receive via the emulator. The developer stresses they do not want someone's first experience to be littered with "framerate drops, or crashes, or other issues that can crop up in emulation." The second comment mentions the illegal nature of playing the game for free.
More interestingly, Atlus added they have heard the cry from PC gamers to be given an opportunity to play "Persona 5" on their computers, and are listening.
While nothing can be announced yet, and the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 versions are currently the only available options, things might be set to change in the future.
The future of RPCS3
As the takedown notice also requests for the Patreon page of RPCS3 to be closed down, something the site has refused to do, the emulator could be in for a rough few months.
Emulation has always been in a bit of a grey area, as they are technically not illegal since they do not actually come with a game.
Knowing how popular the JRPG is, the developers of RPCS3 advertised it heavily on their page, which made them an easier target. Instead of only saying they are developing an emulator which could, possibly, run some PlayStation 3 games; the page marketed the software using "Persona 5."
While the references to Atlus' game have been removed from the Patreon page following the takedown notice, it is unlikely to make much of a difference in the long run.
While the site is backing up the developers, there is very little they can do if the courts order the page to be taken down due to copyright infringement.
These type of high-profile cases are important since they can change the way a particular service like emulation is viewed by the law.
