Bad news guys. (Atlus Bankruptcy)

[Wyndham]

The parent company of Atlus, the game developer seems to have filed for bankruptcy.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/atlus-parent-company-index-files-for-bankruptcy/0117800

[Cyron Tanryoku]

Oh noooooooooooooooooo

[Outrider]

I think Atlus is likely to survive, but I'm worried that if they are purchased it will be by a company that won't allow them to creatively thrive like they have been.

Assuming they are sold off, who would be the possible buyers and which would be the best fit? Square-Enix? Marvelous? Namco-Bandai? I'm basically just tossing out names here.

[Xefi]

dang, i hope it doesnt affect the release of Dragon's Crown.
hopefully things goes well for Atlus (obviously not looking good).

[jooozek]

this is what you get for making those mediocre persona game instead of making a good smt title :etongue:

[Outrider]

this is what you get for making those mediocre persona game instead of making a good smt title :etongue:

Uh... pretty sure the Persona games are the best selling SMT titles out there.

Also, I'm fairly sure this has more to do with Atlus' parent company, Index, than it does with Atlus as a developer/publisher.

[Polly]

Uh... pretty sure the Persona games are the best selling SMT titles out there.

Also, I'm fairly sure this has more to do with Atlus' parent company, Index, than it does with Atlus as a developer/publisher.

Bingo on both accounts, Index has been looked into for quite a while for some shady shit haven't they?

[Powder Keg]

Square-Enix, perhaps? They've already gotten ahold of Ogre Battle. Or wait...was that Quest and Atlus just published it? I forget.....but sad news definitely.

[Sinue_v2]

I can't think of any company offhand that I would want to buy up Atlus. Maybe SNK Playmore. I don't really trust any of the major game companies to handle them properly. What about Treasure? I doubt they're big enough on their own to acquire Atlus, but do they have a parent company who would be interested?

[ShinMaruku]

Sony would be the best fit. They give their owned studios plenty of space to do as they like. (Quantic Dream works with them and Naughty Dog has really done some intresting stuff with ther freedom)
Other than them there are few who would let them work unmolested.

[Gardios]

Serves them right for region locking P4A. >:O

[blace]

After getting my ass beat by Japanese players on other games, I kinda welcomed the region lock. That said, I still got it beat, making the lock moot.

If Atlus ends up being sold, I wonder if they'll continue to put out lasting titles, especially since P4/Golden and P4A paved an obvious road to it's next title.

What I liked about Atlus over Squeenix was that they brought out different styles of play and storytelling. It would be a shame if they were bought to lose what established Atlus in the past decade.

[Randomness]

Yeah, heard about this...

Sony or Nintendo would probably be best for a buyout - Atlus already releases 95% of their stuff for their systems anyways.

[Wyndham]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=613226

[Noblewine]

Well, that sucks. I started to write a list of their games to hunt down on my spare time. I wanted to try a few of them, they looked like a lot of fun. =/

[Milla]

Good news?

http://gematsu.com/2013/07/atlus-parent-company-registers-persona5-jp

[Randomness]

Good news?

http://gematsu.com/2013/07/atlus-parent-company-registers-persona5-jp

That's one way to fix money problems. Let me just ink that in for 2015...

[Wyndham]

It seems Sega is buying Atlus.

[DarkstarIV]

This...could be a very bad thing. Knowing Sega's hilariously awful localization standards, the moment a game like Persona falls even slightly below their sales expectations, we'll never see the series again in North America.

[Sexy_Raine]

This pretty much sums up my reaction, except being replayed 50 times........


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s

It should've been Konami or Capcom, hell even Tecmo Koei would've been better. It had to be one of the worst publishers out there next to Namco, screw you Sega. Atlus games won't make it outside of JP anymore. Goodbye atlus, it was nice knowing you.

The terrible thought of a Persona Sonic crossover. *pukes*

[ReaperTheAbsol]

I just don't want them to touch my SMT x FE or PurseOwner 5 because I'll be heartbroken if they manage to fuck it up...

[Cyrillic]

Lets all take a minute to note that Sega can afford to buy out a company.

But not release PSO 2 in the NA region.

[NoiseHERO]

The terrible thought of a Persona Sonic crossover. *pukes*

What? this is an AWESOME idea. D:

Sonic is an abuseable mascot tool that can be put into the background of anything.

Proven by him being in wreck-it-ralph without being annoying.

Wait a full blown crossover no that's a horrible idea nevermind.

BUT CAMEOS WOULD BE CUTE(didIjustsaycute.)

[Mike]

Lets all take a minute to note that Sega can afford to buy out a company.

Sega Sammy Holdings. The Sammy portion (gambling machines) has always been in the black. The Sega portion has bounced back and forth since it was bought, generally being carried by Sammy's profit, but looks to be making a profit this year.

[Akaimizu]

What? this is an AWESOME idea. D:

Sonic is an abuseable mascot tool that can be put into the background of anything.

Proven by him being in wreck-it-ralph without being annoying.

Wait a full blown crossover no that's a horrible idea nevermind.

BUT CAMEOS WOULD BE CUTE(didIjustsaycute.)

I'm just waiting for Knuckles to come out doing his Pumpkin Hill Rap to explain how spooky it is when Midnight arrives.

-- Yep. I just had to do the *so wrong* suggestion.

[Nilkemios]

Rest in peace Atlus.

[Outrider]

Lets all take a minute to note that Sega can afford to buy out a company.

But not release PSO 2 in the NA region.

I am fairly sure the reason Sega hasn't released PSO2 in the West has nothing to do with lack of sufficient funds.

[Retehi]

Lets all take a minute to note that Sega can afford to buy out a company.

But not release PSO 2 in the NA region.

I don't think Waifu Casino Simulator EX would do well from a business standpoint in our market these days.

[yoshiblue]

I agree

[PrinceBrightstar]

Wonder if we'll see some more PSO2 VS. content come out of this.

[Sp-24]

Wonder if we'll see some more PSO2 VS. content come out of this.
New PBs that require you to blow your brains out to summon them?

[Enforcer MKV]

http://www.joystiq.com/2013/09/19/atlus-apologizes-for-worrying-fans-during-sega-acquisition/

[Randomness]

SEGA getting Atlus COULD be spectacularly good, since Atlus's NA business is basically SMT and localizing/publishing for other companies.

Or, it could be spectacularly bad, because SEGA.

I remain cautiously optimistic, but dammit SEGA had better not screw up one of the best companies out there for RPGs.

[Powder Keg]

So, Atlus is still dead then.

[Outrider]

Christian Nutt has a good post on this: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ChristianNutt/20130920/200739/Whats_going_to_happen_to_Atlus_postSega.php

He goes through the pros and cons of the purchase, and mentions some important points about the future of Atlus.