Legendary Persona Composer Resigns, Will Develop Indies Instead

Shoji Meguro’s eclectic soundscapes are synonymous with the Persona brand: a stimulating mix of jazz, funk, pop, hip-hop, etc. According to an NME report, Meguro is entering the next stage of his musical career after working on Atlus’ dev team since the mid-90s. Legendary Persona composer Meguro has announced his resignation and plans to pursue his long-held goal of making indie video games. 

Don’t worry. Meguro isn’t just abandoning our favorite JRPG franchises. He’ll be contributing to future titles (possibly Persona 6?) He will be working as a freelancer. The original Twitter announcement can be viewed above. You can also watch the subtitled video below, where he explains his decision.

Meguro stated that he quit Atlus in September, and has been creating other games for five years. He was awarded a monetarily-rewarded award after he applied to the Kodansha Game Creators Lab. This helped spark his decision to go indie. 

“Atlus Co., Ltd. accepted my dream, or rather my selfishness,” Meguro states in the Kodansha video. “We have agreed to continue to develop and create music together. We will continue to create and release more games. Keep checking back. You can also play the game “I am.” [now] working on will be announced on the 6th of November 2021 at the Indie Live Expo.”

Under the moniker of MegaRock, Meguro has shown some prototype footage of the game he’s been working on. The following tweet shows the 3rd-person shooter.

This year is the 25th Anniversary for the Persona series. Atlus offered several streams of reveal streams. The first stream was for its Japanese audience. However, the December showcase might hold some surprises. 

Which are your favourite Shoji Meguro songs

[Source: NME]