Atlus has filed a Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown against the creators of the Playstation 3 emulator RPCS3, previously noted for running Persona 5. With the emulator, the game would be playable on PC, which doesn’t officially run the game.
RPCS3 is an open source Playstation 3 emulator capable of smoothly emulating numerous games. Atlus stated today in a notice on their website that they filed a DMCA claim against the project’s Patreon, which included regular updates about the status of getting Atlus’ game to run on the emulator.
“We appreciate the awareness generated by the emulation community for Persona 5,” Atlus said. “Unfortunately, when our content is illegally circumvented and potentially made available for free, in a format we do not think delivers the experience and quality we intend, it undermines our ability to do so by diverting potential support from new audiences.”
Many prominent emulators, such as the WiiU emulator CEMU, avoid drawing ire from large companies but Atlus is notoriously protective of their properties. In April, they announced a harsh policy against streamers playing Persona 5 warning of potential video takedowns if they played too far into the game. The company walked back those restrictions three weeks later after negative fan outcry.
The emulator itself is still available and the Patreon remains, but, following this DMCA, all references to the game have been wiped from RPCS3’s website and Patreon. According to a statement from RPCS3, this was done with advisement from Patreon, who did not immediately comply with Atlus’ request to take down the project’s page.
Emulators are controversial for some in the gaming community who see them as pathways to piracy, but they have never been ruled illegal in a court of law.