In an alternative universe, Zenimax tried to acquire Atlus, just like what it has done to Humanhead in our universe.
Then, Persona 5 was announced in 2011, and finally cancelled.
Then, an email leaked, saying Arkane had become the developer of next Persona.
(‘Forget about Persona 5, we will make Arx Fatalis 2 and Half-life 2 Episode 4’)
At last, instead of a System Shock clone called Prey, we got a spiritual sequel of Arx Fatalis as well as Half-life 2 called Persona.