On Friday, video game art, gallery, and marketing company Iam8bit announced its latest special edition vinyl release: Two separate box set editions of the jazzy and memorable soundtrack to Persona 5 — a funky game that combines traditional, turn-based combat with the Japanese dating scene. Not all the details are finalized, though, because the company is including fans in creating the box sets.
What we do know is the Persona 5 vinyl will come in two editions. A $100 four-vinyl record set will feature a curated track list that includes the tunes specifically plucked from the game by the developers and composers in the Atlus Sound Team, while a “deluxe edition” six-vinyl record set will feature the entire 110-song soundtrack for $175. The deluxe edition will be limited to 1,000 pressings.
Details like the final look of the packaging and the vinyl itself are under wraps still — or maybe undetermined, as Iam8bit said on the Persona 5 vinyl’s product page that the company wants to “document and share the entire process of creating a vinyl album with Persona 5 fans, from start to finish.” Together with Atlus and Sega, they will document through video, photos, and interviews the mastering, pressing, artwork, packaging, and production of the Persona 5 soundtrack on vinyl.
“One of the most common questions we receive from customers is ‘how.’ How is vinyl made? What is the process like?” Iam8bit co-owner Jon M. Gibson told Digital Trends in a statement. “Vinyl is a pretty ancient technology by today’s standards — it’s very analog. We felt like Persona 5, given the epic nature of the soundtrack, was the perfect opportunity to finally expose the mysteries of vinyl production, from start to finish. The Persona community is just so positive and supportive, it felt like the right project to do this kind of behind-the-scenes exposé with.”
Pre-orders are available now and will likely run out quickly. The box sets are set to ship in the fourth quarter of 2017, in time for the holidays. Iam8bit promised monthly-ish updates on production, including “some fun surprises along the way.”
In our Persona 5 review, we noted that the game’s eclectic soundtrack “will stay stuck in your head long after you put the controller down.” That is when you will want to drop a needle on the vinyl, as soon as it arrives toward the end of this year.
