Report: Sega Interested in Buying Atlus

[hermes]

I would begrudgingly accept this. Truth to be told, there are worst cases than Sega (Activision, EA, Ubisoft), but I still can't forget them for losing Bayonetta to Nintendo, Aliens: Colonial Marines, the lack of Yakuza 5 plans for NA, turning Valkyria Chronicles into a portable game and the whole "we only focus on our 5 core franchises".

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Sega was one of the companies that the community was rooting for in this acquisition, right? To keep Atlas working cross-platform. Just so's I know who to root for. Also would be nice to see people's jobs remaining secure, natch.

Not particularly. Sega's not got a great history of bringing games to the West. They tend to leave the more niche stuff as Japan-only. Given that Atlus is pretty much nothing but niche (in a good way, of course), that would leave a lot of their games potentially being released only in Japan.

Also, it's worth remembering that Sega canned Bayonetta 2 even though the first one did over a million in sales, that would be a bit worrying looking at some of Atlus' games, many of which can never hope to get anything like 1 million in sales. Not that it's in any way a bad thing, but Atlus are what they are: developer and publisher of very niche games.

I'd say that Sega's been better about releasing games to the West since the tail end of the PS2XboxGC era. Yakuza came to the West as a random filler title. Sega was afraid to release the sequel but the game proved more popular than they thought. Every sequel Sega has been kind of afraid to release to the West, and every time there's a petition to release the Yakuza games that pushes Sega against their fears. Hell, even a Yakuza spin off had been released here. And for a franchise that's essentially a spiritual sequel to Shenmue (one of their most niche cult classics ever) I'd say kudos to them. They also do still give us the last real hurrah of Japanese games that aren't tailor made to the Western Market.

I also think its a bit unfair to say that Sega canned Bayonetta 2 and not explain the whole situation. Platinum Games had a four game publishing deal with Sega. They made Bayonetta, Infinite Space, Vanquish and MadWorld. When MadWorld flopped on the Wii Sega tried to bring the property in an upgraded format onto the PS3/360 as Anarchy Reigns with. That flopped too. Infinite Space didn't sell too well on the DS and Vanquish flopped as well. All great games but the only game that garnered any reputable sales was Bayonetta, and the PS3 version was handled by someone else due the fact that Platinum Games at the time had no idea how to code on the PS3. That means more money out of Sega's pocket.

That's also Sega having to pay two companies to make a game one company should have been able to make.

Needless to say, Sega lost money working with Platinum Games overall. If most publishers were in the position of Sega they would have pulled away from working with Platinum Games as well. They make great games but they seem to always either come up short with the know how or not be able to generate a buzz outside of the niche tendencies the games they make have. They were lucky to sell 1.35 million copies of Bayonetta at all.
OP:
I hope that Sega gets ATLUS because of how good Sega's been to the PC community lately. A lot of the Dreamcast's most known hits are on Steam and I think PC gaming could benefit from having more Eastern titles available.

FF7 sold well on Steam as predicted. The Last Remnant's best version is surprisingly its PC port. It'd go right along with them publishing the always award winning Total War franchise. My point is I think Sega could make a mint off of porting the games ATLUS has made to the PC. If the sales and cult following behind Recettear and To The Moon are any indication, it'd be Sega hitting a nearly untapped market of PC costumers in the West.

 

[Cybylt]

I kind of wish XSEED and NIS would merge, buy Atlus, and then make some amazing cross overs.

I just hope Atlus is sold INTACT, and its' IPs aren't broken up.

I also hope Nintendo doesn't buy them because...well...
Nintendo and 'mature' games don't seem to 'fit'.

XSEED is too small and poor, also an American company so they're not allowed to buy it because Japanese trade laws. It would be their parent company, Marvelous AQL, that'd be buying them, and if that happened they'd probably shut down XSEED since Atlus USA is such a better localization firm that it's not even funny.

NIS on the other hand is probably in a better position to buy it but I'd be against it since they're far too pandering to weeaboo/otaku culture.

And on that last statement, when it comes to subsidiaries and third party studios, Nintendo has a history of being very hands off and letting them do what they want. They picked up Bayonetta 2 when SEGA wouldn't, they picked up Resident Evil 4 when Sony wouldn't. This is also the company that had the least censored version of Conker's Bad Fur Day under their belt.

And on top of all of that, SMT4/Strange Journey have more cursing, violence, and themes of the absolute end of all than their sony system counterparts of recent years. Hell Persona's the one taking off on Playstations and that's the lighthearted spinoff series at this point.

In the end though, I still say a holding company will pick them up and just let them keep going as is as long as it's profitable, which kinda sucks for Europe since there's no ATLUS EU but pretty good for everyone else.

 

[Roxas1359]

Whoops, accidental double post, the one on the bottom is better.

 

[hermes]

Sega was one of the companies that the community was rooting for in this acquisition, right? To keep Atlas working cross-platform. Just so's I know who to root for. Also would be nice to see people's jobs remaining secure, natch.

Not particularly. Sega's not got a great history of bringing games to the West. They tend to leave the more niche stuff as Japan-only. Given that Atlus is pretty much nothing but niche (in a good way, of course), that would leave a lot of their games potentially being released only in Japan.

Also, it's worth remembering that Sega canned Bayonetta 2 even though the first one did over a million in sales, that would be a bit worrying looking at some of Atlus' games, many of which can never hope to get anything like 1 million in sales. Not that it's in any way a bad thing, but Atlus are what they are: developer and publisher of very niche games.

I'd say that Sega's been better about releasing games to the West since the tail end of the PS2XboxGC era. Yakuza came to the West as a random filler title. Sega was afraid to release the sequel but the game proved more popular than they thought. Every sequel Sega has been kind of afraid to release to the West, and every time there's a petition to release the Yakuza games that pushes Sega against their fears. Hell, even a Yakuza spin off had been released here. And for a franchise that's essentially a spiritual sequel to Shenmue (one of their most niche cult classics ever) I'd say kudos to them. They also do still give us the last real hurrah of Japanese games that aren't tailor made to the Western Market.

I also think its a bit unfair to say that Sega canned Bayonetta 2 and not explain the whole situation. Platinum Games had a four game publishing deal with Sega. They made Bayonetta, Infinite Space, Vanquish and MadWorld. When MadWorld flopped on the Wii Sega tried to bring the property in an upgraded format onto the PS3/360 as Anarchy Reigns with. That flopped too. Infinite Space didn't sell too well on the DS and Vanquish flopped as well. All great games but the only game that garnered any reputable sales was Bayonetta, and the PS3 version was handled by someone else due the fact that Platinum Games at the time had no idea how to code on the PS3. That means more money out of Sega's pocket.

That's also Sega having to pay two companies to make a game one company should have been able to make.

Needless to say, Sega lost money working with Platinum Games overall. If most publishers were in the position of Sega they would have pulled away from working with Platinum Games as well. They make great games but they seem to always either come up short with the know how or not be able to generate a buzz outside of the niche tendencies the games they make have. They were lucky to sell 1.35 million copies of Bayonetta at all.
OP:
I hope that Sega gets ATLUS because of how good Sega's been to the PC community lately. A lot of the Dreamcast's most known hits are on Steam and I think PC gaming could benefit from having more Eastern titles available.

FF7 sold well on Steam as predicted. The Last Remnant's best version is surprisingly its PC port. It'd go right along with them publishing the always award winning Total War franchise. My point is I think Sega could make a mint off of porting the games ATLUS has made to the PC. If the sales and cult following behind Recettear and To The Moon are any indication, it'd be Sega hitting a nearly untapped market of PC costumers in the West.

However, it seems Sega is particularly bad at advertising games on the west. Both Yakuza and Valkyria Chronicles sold a lot more because of word of mouth than because of any actual work Sega did in marketing. I would even go as far as to say Amazon and its sales did more for those titles that Sega ever did. It seems like his idea of publishing in the West is just localizing (in the case of Yakuza, barely and because of fans demands) and then just drop them over here.

But one thing is clear, if the choice would go between Sega or almost any other publisher (EA, Activision, Capcom, Ubisoft), it does seems like a promising alternative.

 

[Roxas1359]

snip

Sega Sammy's been having a good last 2 years, because they own way more than just SEGA being their subsidiaries. They also hold a huge major share with the DIMPs corporation in Japan alongside with Bandi Namco and Sony Computer Entertainment, and are affliliated with Red Entertainment Company. They also own TMS Entertainment which has produced a bunch of well known anime and products for it. If SEGA themselves were trying to make Atlus a division of SEGA then I'd be worried, but I'm less worried if a holdings company were the ones to purchase it. Especially since it would keep Atlus multiplatform which would be a good thing since Atlus is known for being multiplatform on things. Really I see a holdings company being the best bet for Atlus since technically nothing would be changed except the name in this case just like how Index was the holding company before hand.

Plus I think it'd be terrible if either Sony or Nintendo were to be the ones buying them because it would just cause divisions between the fans, again assuming that Dopakon Kingdom fans haven't murdered each other yet. XP
That and Atlus USA is localizing the new Disgaea game for the PS3 and they've helped out with localizing every Disgaea game so far. If either Sony or Nintendo get in the way of me not being able to play as Laharl again I will swim to Japan and slap the people who denied me it with whatever fish I happen to grab while I'm swimming to Japan! XD

 

[Roxas1359]

But one thing is clear, if the choice would go between Sega or almost any other publisher (EA, Activision, Capcom, Ubisoft), it does seems like a promising alternative.

Good thing Ubisoft, EA, and Activision wouldn't be able to buy it because Japan generally doesn't allow foreign companies to purchase domestic companies most of the time. They allow domestic companies to purchase foreign ones however, in this case take the Square Enix purchase of Eidos as an example.

 

[Dragonbums]

As long as it's not Nintendo, Sony, or any other third party company that has a heavy bias towards one of the other big three I'm good.

Does Sega have the money however?
The ACM scandal where Gearbox ripped their money hit them hard. I honestly believe that Sega isn't going to outbid anyone.

Also is Nintendo one of the bidders? Like not rumors, like they are actually going to bid for them.

EDIT: I say not Nintendo as a Nintendo fan because Sony also has a game in works inside Atlus. The same way it would be unfair if we lost SMT X FE crossover because of a Sony purchase the vice versa would hold true.

 

[DRTJR]

I want Nintendo to buy them, SMT X FIRE EMBLEM I want more then anything else.

 

[Roxas1359]

As long as it's not Nintendo, Sony, or any other third party company that has a heavy bias towards one of the other big three I'm good.

Does Sega have the money however?
The ACM scandal where Gearbox ripped their money hit them hard. I honestly believe that Sega isn't going to outbid anyone.

Also is Nintendo one of the bidders? Like not rumors, like they are actually going to bid for them.

EDIT: I say not Nintendo as a Nintendo fan because Sony also has a game in works inside Atlus. The same way it would be unfair if we lost SMT X FE crossover because of a Sony purchase the vice versa would hold true.

SEGA as a company might not have as much, but SEGA's holding company SEGA Sammy does have the money as I posted above. SEGA Sammy is just a holdings company like how Index was and they have good investments. Their stocks just rose up like crazy, and SEGA wouldn't meddle with Atlus unless SEGA Sammy were to merge them, although I don't think they can since all a holdings company is is just the place that holds onto the copyrights, trademarks, and investments really. But also, it'd be possible that Atlus USA, which does a bunch of localizing for the US population, might start localizing some SEGA games as well since SEGA of Japan tends to help domestically localize things for Atlus a lot of the time.
Also, I kinda miss the old avy. D:

 

[RicoADF]

But one thing is clear, if the choice would go between Sega or almost any other publisher (EA, Activision, Capcom, Ubisoft), it does seems like a promising alternative.

Good thing Ubisoft, EA, and Activision wouldn't be able to buy it because Japan generally doesn't allow foreign companies to purchase domestic companies most of the time. They allow domestic companies to purchase foreign ones however, in this case take the Square Enix purchase of Eidos as an example.

I wish my country was smart enough to make such laws, then Melbourne House would probably still be around. Ah well, wishful thinking.

 

[Roxas1359]

But one thing is clear, if the choice would go between Sega or almost any other publisher (EA, Activision, Capcom, Ubisoft), it does seems like a promising alternative.

Good thing Ubisoft, EA, and Activision wouldn't be able to buy it because Japan generally doesn't allow foreign companies to purchase domestic companies most of the time. They allow domestic companies to purchase foreign ones however, in this case take the Square Enix purchase of Eidos as an example.

I wish my country was smart enough to make such laws, then Melbourne House would probably still be around. Ah well, wishful thinking.

They made that Transformers game that I LPed and loved to death. Wait, they aren't around anymore!? D:
Now I am the sad. T^T

 

[DarklordKyo]

But one thing is clear, if the choice would go between Sega or almost any other publisher (EA, Activision, Capcom, Ubisoft), it does seems like a promising alternative.

Good thing Ubisoft, EA, and Activision wouldn't be able to buy it because Japan generally doesn't allow foreign companies to purchase domestic companies most of the time. They allow domestic companies to purchase foreign ones however, in this case take the Square Enix purchase of Eidos as an example.

I wish my country was smart enough to make such laws, then Melbourne House would probably still be around. Ah well, wishful thinking.

They made that Transformers game that I LPed and loved to death. Wait, they aren't around anymore!? D:
Now I am the sad. T^T

Actually they're a subsidiary of Krome Studios, the creators of Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, nowadays.

 

[RicoADF]

But one thing is clear, if the choice would go between Sega or almost any other publisher (EA, Activision, Capcom, Ubisoft), it does seems like a promising alternative.

Good thing Ubisoft, EA, and Activision wouldn't be able to buy it because Japan generally doesn't allow foreign companies to purchase domestic companies most of the time. They allow domestic companies to purchase foreign ones however, in this case take the Square Enix purchase of Eidos as an example.

I wish my country was smart enough to make such laws, then Melbourne House would probably still be around. Ah well, wishful thinking.

They made that Transformers game that I LPed and loved to death. They aren't around anymore!? D:
Now I am the sad. T^T

They were bought out by Atari at one point, I believe another company then took them over. Either way their not the Australian devs that made KKND anymore :-( (afaik, please correct me if I'm wrong)

EDIT: Just checked and their now owned by Krome Studios an Australian studio in Queensland, seems like after Atari they were bought out by another aussie studio, thank god!

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

I can't say I'm sure about the future of Atlus, which makes me very, very sad

Atlus is one of my favorite developers out there. They have an uncanny talent for blending genres & put out quirky games with a level of quality that is rarely seen in the current market. Their products aren't for everyone, but they don't need to be. Great games with a dedicated fanbase & a rational budget (also rare nowadays).

I say with no reluctance that Catherine is one of my favorite games of all time. Agree, disagree; I don't care in the slightest

Ok, got my fanboy out... so...

Sega is a toss-up. Doesn't much interfere with the devs it owns, but they're also Nintendo's lapdog. Could go either way

SOE might not be bad. They've earned a bit of my respect as of late.

I don't know what to think here, but I know I'm nervous

 

[OldNewNewOld]

Sega, the guys who needed Nintendo's money to finance Bayonetta 2 and Wonderfull 101 are buying a company...
It feels wrong and dangerous for both.

 

[A Curious Fellow]

Whatever happened to the OgreBattle series?

I loved those games.

 

[balladbird]

Heck, with Xenoblade, The Last Story, X, Fire Emblem Awakening, Pandora's Tower among others, Nintendo have shown they're more willing than most to support niche-market, mature JRPGs. Post Operation Rainfall, they even seem to be making a renewed effort to bring those sorts of games westwards. They've promoted the shit out of Shin Megami Tensei IV (even giving gamers free money with it). They're the ones publishing Bravely Default in Europe and America next year, not Square Enix. They still have development studios squarely focused on making good RPGs for their systems (Monolith and Intelligent Systems), and therefore no exactly how to budget and manage those sort of titles.

Actually, FE: A proved more than anything that Nintendo is extremely squeamish about their niche markets. Giving it an extremely rigid sales figure to meet, that was far higher than most Atlus titles make in their entire run in NA. the fact that it succeeded in spite of this is a feat of victory for the fans, not nintendo.

Also, while I adored FE: A (the first game to truly accommodate my inner shipper since Star Ocean 2)calling it "mature" is a huge stretch. Given the core plot's cliche-storm, cookie cutter plot of "help the good dragon of life reseal the evil dragon of death who has awakened after a thousand year seal."

 

[VanQ]

As long as Nintendo doesn't buy them, I'm happy. Not that I have anything against Nintendo, I just think there' sa whole lot more potential in the PS4 than the WiiU and I'd hate to see Atlus and its IPs go Nintendo exclusive.