Leading up to the release of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax next week, fans have learned that lobby mode, one of the three main multiplayer modes for the game will only be available for the PlayStation 4 version. This shortly follows the news of rollback netcode being implemented into the online multiplayer later this year for the PlayStation and Steam versions leaving the Switch out to dry.
The realization behind this omission on Switch and PC was pointed out by SMT Network on Twitter. Fans theorized about the exclusivity of lobby mode on PlayStation 4 after discovering that all previous DLC would be included in this rerelease on current hardware, but also the lobby mode avatar DLCs that were originally in the PlayStation 3 version were only coming to the PlayStation 4 version. The Persona fighting game originally released back on the PS3 and Xbox 360 at the time; lobby mode was also exclusive to the PS3 version.
Lobby mode is a 32 player social hub where players can interact with each other, do battles, and potential for community events like tournaments. Hopefully, there is a resurge in the Persona 4 Arena fighting community and it is looking more and more likely that the PlayStation 4 is the definitive version for competitive players.
For those on the fence about adopting either the Switch or Steam version of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, you aren’t completely out of luck if you want to experience online play. Both platforms will still have access to Ranked and Player Matches. Player matches specifically will still allow you to invite up to eight people into a menu-based lobby so there are still options to play with friends. That being said, it is still questionable of Atlus to be releasing each version of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax for the same price when modes and features are omitted on certain platforms.
