Atlus Absorbed, Merges With Mobile Developer

[Nephlabobo]

The parent company of animation studio Madhouse and Atlus, Index Holdings, announced Atlus will be dissolved. A representative said the brand will still exist with future games published under the Atlus label, but Atlus will no longer be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Atlus, a fully owned subsidiary of Index Holdings, will merge with Index, a mobile content division of the same company. Index Holdings believes this will allow the new team to leverage Atlus’ IP library such as Persona, Shin Megami Tensei, and Trauma Center. Just a few weeks ago, Persona 3 Social was announced for cell phones.

The merger is scheduled to take place on October 1.

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/08/30...ile-developer/

Um.....this doesn't sound promising........

[Archie55]

Can someone explain this to me in terms of "Will Atlus still exist, or will I have to cry because I no longer have a favorite game company"?

[Zoltor]

Originally Posted by Archie55

Can someone explain this to me in terms of "Will Atlus still exist, or will I have to cry because I no longer have a favorite game company"?

Well happily, this should have almost no affect on the USA branch, as they act mainly as a 3rd party publisher/localizer, and thus run independently from the main company, so the godly ATLUS we all know will be staying.

The only thing this should effect is, if our ATLUS will be allowed to release SMT/Persona games here, that's the only thing that may be an issue.

As long as their games don't become cell phone only games(which is actually marketable in Japan sadly), we should still beable to bring them over, although it will probally be a slightly slower decision(depending how much of a prick, the new head chairman is).

[illogicaldreamr]

Someone from Atlus needs to come in and confirm what the hell this means for Atlus and the quality of its future games.

[Sagadego]

i think i just died a little inside

[SerialExperimentsAmy]

Sounds like it's just some technical stocky stuff, though I do hope they never stop releasing under that name.

[Vyse of Arcadia]

And a one, and a two, and a

Nooooooooooooo....?

[DarkRPGMaster]

Please don't say what I think this means. D:

[DamageCity]

you guys are nuts

[Inzaghi]

Don't worry, guys. This is just some corporate organizational maneuvering and won't affect anything we do.

[Demonis]

I actually think this is a good move, bringing Atlus as a brand back into its parent company should prevent it from going under entirely. However, what we are likely to lose from this (if I were guessing) is the amount of new games Atlus has been bringing to the table (Strange Journey, Zeno Clash perhaps, ect ect). We'll likely see a focus on SMT/Persona/Trauma games, the ones they make the most money on.

Hopefully, they don't lose quality from this...

[Rednusander]

Originally Posted by Demonis

I actually think this is a good move, bringing Atlus as a brand back into its parent company should prevent it from going under entirely. However, what we are likely to lose from this (if I were guessing) is the amount of new games Atlus has been bringing to the table (Strange Journey, Zeno Clash perhaps, ect ect). We'll likely see a focus on SMT/Persona/Trauma games, the ones they make the most money on.

Hopefully, they don't lose quality from this...

Did you read the part about how it won't affect anything we do?

[DarkRPGMaster]

I think he's more worried about if it will affect the Japan branch.

[Inzaghi]

Highly unlikely.

[ivanff12]

What I care about is: Atlus will continue developing games for PS3, PSP, NDS and other consoles?

[Inzaghi]

In all likelihood, yes.

This is what Red and I are saying, over and over. Atlus is not becoming a mobile games company. The original story doesn't even say that. This is purely a corporate maneuvering so that Index, which is a mobile games company, has easier access to Atlus IPs. That's all.

[slayn]

Holy crap guys, the sky is falling!

[SlaughterX]

Persona 5 for iPhone confirmed!

[slayn]

Originally Posted by SlaughterX

Persona 5 for iPhone confirmed!

Man I called this like a year ago.

[Silverevilchao]

AHHHHH! What about MadHouse?!

And I don't like the idea of phone shovelware being pushed under the MegaTen moniker. We already have a bunch of Persona 3 rereleases as is...

[Masterchickens]

I remember when Square and Enix merged together. I felt a bit of trepidation, but I also was excited. The makers of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest respectively coming together could only mean good things for the future. Alas, if only that were true! Since that time, Square-Enix has only gone down hill. Outside of a few games on both the PSP and DS, they've done nothing but damage their reputation, at least over here. Final Fantasy XIII is probably the most hated game in the series to date. Dragon Quest 9 has drawn nothing but ire from the Japanese public and they LOVE anything Dragon Quest, which should say something. Then there were the ultimate disasters in Infinite Undiscovery and Last Remnant. Outside of Crisis Core, The World Ends With You, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Birth By Sleep, Square-Enix has done nothing but release either crap or a steady stream of rehashes on as many consoles as possible. Where I'm going with this is that the majority of the Atlus community, myself included, are afraid that you guys might be headed in the same direction as Square-Enix. Atlus is one of, if not the best publisher and developer in the industry. You guys genuinely care about your fanbase and you know what we want in games. Any change in that could result in possible disaster. I, along with every other Atlus fanboy/girl, am hoping that there won't be any noticeable difference in the way you guys do business. I hope that this merger is only a means of protecting yourselves in this uncertain economic environment. I also hope that Index Holdings will leave you guys, and I'm talking about both the Japanese and North American branches, alone and not muck with your winning formula. Just know that the reason that all of us are freaking out about this merger is because we respect and love you guys for what you've done for us Japanophiles and our unceasing greed for more Japanese gaming goodness. Please don't change! Please, please, please don't become another Square-Enix. Also, please, please, please bring out Steambot Chronicles 2! End rant!

[DarkRPGMaster]

tl;dr

[ivanff12]

Originally Posted by Inzaghi

In all likelihood, yes.

This is what Red and I are saying, over and over. Atlus is not becoming a mobile games company. The original story doesn't even say that. This is purely a corporate maneuvering so that Index, which is a mobile games company, has easier access to Atlus IPs. That's all.

I hope this is so, and follow Apollo to the consoles in the same way they have done so far. If this were not so serious this would be a horrible news!

[RyougaZell]

Originally Posted by Silverevilchao

AHHHHH! What about MadHouse?!

And I don't like the idea of phone shovelware being pushed under the MegaTen moniker. We already have a bunch of Persona 3 rereleases as is...

phone shovelware persona 3 re-releases?

I don't see any of the 7 Persona 3 Cellphone games being re-releases... just games taking advantage of the popularity of the franchise by adding their characters.

[Vyse of Arcadia]

Originally Posted by DarkRPGMaster

tl;dr

I lol'd. I have to wonder if he/she/it registered just to post that rant.

I thought Squeenix has been doing a fine job, actually. Still not enough focus on DQ in NA for my tastes, but what are you going to do?

Nothing like a good old fashioned corporate shuffle to cause a stir.

[Jackstar]

Since the bottom line is $, you guys could start pitching about remaking Persona on cell phones, then a bunch of you can conspire to write up a proposal about the PSP having a larger market share in the West or some similar bull####, with the emphasis on Persona 2...and if it gets through to the higher ups at Index Holdings, everyone's happy! Alternatively, that Persona 2 cell phone remake could end up in Wiiware, and with the right buttons pushed I'm sure an appearance on XBLA/PSN shouldn't be too hard to manage.

I know, I'm not original. I'm just trying to take advantage of the situation.

[bullman422]

While I am trying to remain positive despite the latest breaking news, I can't help but think that this might be a slow death for the megaten console games (especially for the PS3). Oh well! All I can do is wait and see and hope for the best.

[Phoenix_Apollo]

Quite honestly, I was panicking more about Atlus USA today more than Atlus Japan. I was pretty sure that Atlus Japan would be fine (a gut thing), but was more worried about Atlus USA because they like giving me things I like, which makes us both happy.

But now, with confirmation from two site admins, I'm glad that Atlus USA will remain fine and hope that this reorganizing will turn out just as well.

[Mister_Miracle]

Okay, guess I'll just wait and see how this turns out.

[Pantaloons]

Originally Posted by Inzaghi

Don't worry, guys. This is just some corporate organizational maneuvering and won't affect anything we do.

That's all I needed to know!