Experiencing heartbreak over an in-game crush is a canonical gamer event — even if you’re rich and famous. Just look at Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye’s recent Instagram Stories, where the star has been posting about his troubles in Persona 5 Royal.
The pop singer known for his angelic voice has spent the last few months showing off his gamer credentials. While regularly appearing among Spotify’s most-streamed artists, the Canadian has still found time to visit Sega’s Japan offices, beat Nier: Automata, and become friends with Nier series creator Yoko Taro.
In late April, Tesfaye started updating fans on his Persona 5 Royal progress via his alternate account, Gene.hackerman. So far, he’s put at least 92 hours into Atlus’s iconic RPG, and has maxed out some of his relationships as well. One of Tesfaye’s earliest posts about playng the game featured a screenshot of Tae Takemi, the goth-mommy doctor who has become a fan-favorite romance option. This inclusion led fans to poke Tesfaye about whom, exactly, he was pursuing during Persona 5‘s life-sim segments.
That’s when Tesfaye dropped the bombshell: he was too far gone to seal the deal with Takemi, despite clearly being infatuated with her:
Tesfaye emphasized the magnitude of his fumble with another post that depicted a man shooting himself in the head:
Woof. Many of us have been there, but it’s funny to know that even a famous man who has dated models still pines for the same characters we love. Persona 5 fans are certainly having a laugh about it.
“Sending prayers,” one fan wrote on X in response to the account sharing the updates. “Whenever the Weeknd drops his next album and mentions a girl, we know who he’s referring to,” another wrote.
Most replies either try to comfort Tesfaye or relate their own stories of failed Persona 5 romances. But regardless of who the musical celebrity ends up romancing, from now on, people are going to associate him with the JRPG. The romance mishap transpires while the singer wears a mask on tour that looks mighty familiar. Even Persona 5‘s developers have taken note of Tesfaye’s fandom.
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