Atlus: Merger Won't Affect Anything

[Logan Westbrook]

Atlus: Merger Won't Affect Anything

Atlus' "dissolution" as a corporate entity is nothing to worry about, says staff.

Atlus has reassured worried fans that the recent corporate maneuvering by its parent company Index Holdings isn't going to change the way it operates. It was reported [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103124-Atlus-Dissolved-by-Parent-Company] earlier this week that Atlus had been merged with Index Holdings' mobile games company, prompting fears that the developer/publisher would stop producing the quirky and unique games it is known for, and start making titles with wider commercial appeal.

But writing on the company's forums [http://www.atlus.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7857], admin "Inzaghi" told concerned posters not to worry, as the changes were purely organizational in nature, and wouldn't affect anything that Atlus did. Inzaghi added that the merger just meant that it was simpler for Index to make use of Atlus IPs for mobile games. These comments echo a message from Catherine director Katsura Hashino, who said that his team had been unaffected by the change.


The company line from both the Japanese and American branches of Atlus seems to be that it's business as usual, and there's not a lot to suggest otherwise. Obviously, things could change in the future, but that would have been just as true if the merger hadn't taken place.

Source: MCV [http://www.mcvuk.com/news/40685/Atlus-lives-on]

Permalink

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Thank god. These guys are putting out some of the best RPGs on the market today. I'm glad that it's not going to change.

 

[GeneticallyModifiedDucks]

Nice. Now I can sleep better.

 

[Jared]

As long as they still make awesome game - which eventually get released in the EU - I dont care what name they go under

 

[Simple Bluff]

It did seem a bit weird that a company like Atlus would dissolve out of nowhere.

 

[Brotherofwill]

That's what they always say- and then they're pregnant.
But really, it's what they always say. Anyone remember how the Blizzard merger turned out?

We get a game local game with internet only access, Lan removal and 1 third of a campaign. Okay it wasn't terrible, but a shift in management can very well affect the games.

I'm hopeful. What little I've seen of Atlus has really impressed me, hopefully it stays that way.

 

[seditary]

I can only take them at their word but I still have a thick lump of uneasiness stuck in my stomach about this.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

This isn't really a "merger" as it's a parent company absorbing a subsidiary, it's probably more for tax and organizational purposes than anything. It's like if Nintendo "dissolved" Intelligent Systems (Paper Mario, Fire Emblem), which it wholly owns anyway. Start worrying if they start laying off staff, for now what was Atlus is now the Games Division of Index Holdings, which will probably still publish under the name Atlus.

 

[Eric the Orange]

I figured it wouldn't. But who now will I cheer for in March Mayhem?

 

[Irridium]

I don't know, these mergers have a way of changing things...

 

[CK76]

Shin Megami Tensei on PS3 please.

 

[Crimsane]

I'm a little relieved, but won't be able to fully relax and believe that the company isn't changing until I see the same quality games being released over a decent period of time. >.> What's to say that people aren't going to be shifted to different departments after their current projects end?

 

[Tom Phoenix]

We get a game local game with internet only access, Lan removal and 1 third of a campaign. Okay it wasn't terrible, but a shift in management can very well affect the games.

Except I am preety sure Blizzard decided that all on their own...for better or for worse.

Kotick may be "the devil (tm)", but Blizzard rakes in enough money to guaruantee it a great deal of autonomy (especially when you consider that all the other developers under the Vivendi Games division were consolidated into Activision proper). So any faults are entirely their own doing and people shouldn't be going around looking for convenient blame figures just beacuse a company isn't without it's faults. And this is coming from someone who loves Blizzard games (StarCraft II included...speaking of which, the game's Terran campaign was as long as all three campaigns in the original StarCraft, so you can't really argue that people didn't get their money's worth of content). Kotick may have done terrible things, but he can't be responsible for everything that goes wrong.

Anyway, only time will really tell whether or not Atlus homebase in Japan really won't be affected by this corporate manoeuvring. That said, at least Atlus USA has always been a bit of an independant entity, so I really do not expect them to be affected much by this.

 

[MatsVS]

That's what they always say- and then they're pregnant.

Haha, don't I know it...

Still, I'll take this without a grain of salt, for now. Cheers, Mr. Westbrook, for soothing my frayed nerves.

 

[antipunt]

Whew..maybe I'll still my precious Persona 5...

 

[Gigaguy64]

*Whew*
This is a relief.
I was worried that i might not see an English Version of SRT OG Saga:Endless Frontier EXCEED.

 

[ckam]

Totally relieved. Man, that was scary.