Netflix's Persona Live Action Brings More Questions Than Answers

2 hours ago 3

Published Jun 29, 2026, 7:05 PM EDT

Scott Baird is a Contributor at DualShockers with over a decade of experience writing about video games, board games, and tabletop RPGs. He has been writing professionally since 2013 and covering games since 2018, with work spanning news, reviews, lists, guides, interviews, and event coverage.

Before joining DualShockers, Scott contributed to publications including The Escapist, Dexerto, TheGamer, CBR, and Gamepur. He has also worked as a full-time Pokémon writer at Dexerto and a features writer at TheGamer. Scott holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Film & TV Production.

The doorway to the Velvet Room may be opening to a whole new medium, as a live-action Persona TV show is rumored to be in development by 21 Laps Entertainment for Netflix, marking the subscription service's latest attempt at adapting a huge nerd property to the small screen.

Persona is a series of JRPGs produced by Atlus, where kids in contemporary Japan gain the power to summon creatures from mythology. The gameplay loop involves balancing schoolwork and social life with dungeon exploration, with one affecting the other: being good in the real world provides greater benefits when fighting monsters and plundering treasure.

Fans might be impatiently waiting for Persona 6, but a new Persona project might be on the horizon. Variety reports that a live-action Persona show is on the way, with a few big names attached, though it's unclear when the rumored show is coming or whether it will adapt any of the games.

Persona Live-Action Show Rumored To Be Developed By Netflix

According to Variety, the Persona TV show is being produced by 21 Laps Entertainment, the studio behind Stranger Things, Deadpool & Wolverine, Free Guy, and most recently, Backrooms. The Persona show is being co-produced by Story Kitchen and written by Christopher Monfette, with Toru Nakahara of Sega as the executive producer.

It bears mentioning that these reports are still considered rumors, so they should be taken with a grain of salt until Netflix, Sega, or Atlus makes an official announcement. That said, a Persona TV show makes a ton of sense as a way to adapt a video game for the small screen.

The Persona games take place in contemporary high school settings, with casts of relatable teenagers going on adventures that co-exist alongside their day-to-day lives, which is about as tailor-made for a TV show as video games get. It's ideal for the "Bottle Episode" format used by shows like Star Trek and The Walking Dead, where downtime and character development become the focus of episodes to save money on the big action sequences.

The big question now is whether the Persona TV show will adapt an existing game or tell a new story using familiar iconography. Adapting the games isn't out of the question — after all, there have been several faithful and successful Persona anime series and movies in the past.

The problem is the Japanese setting of the Persona games, since any direct adaptation would likely shift the setting to North America. This is certainly doable, though fans are already punching their Teddy body pillows in rage at the thought of an Americanized Inaba.

What's more likely is that there will be a new Persona TV show set somewhere in North America, using the familiar monsters and social links, while keeping characters like Igor, just to keep the fans happy. Will it be any good? Probably not, but shows like Fallout have proven that great video game adaptations are possible.

2027 will see the release of Persona 4 Revival, with Persona 6 launching after that, most likely in the same year. If the Persona TV show is real, it will likely be announced next year to capitalize on the Persona hype, especially if it's an adaptation of Persona 4. When it does, then fans can pre-emptively hate it, waiting to be proven wrong.