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[Trojita]

Persona 5 on Dreamcast 2. Killer App.

Believe.

 

[jj984jj]

Great news for one reason only.

Mara in the next sonic kart game. He's already got a chariot!!!!!

Lol Mara. You know it'll be Jack Frost.

 

[Zertez]

Guess we can expect barebones packaging from Atlus games now. It would be nice if Sega left them alone to do their own thing, but I dont see it happening. Atlus was one of the last holdouts from when studios use to package their games with full manuals and other cool little things.

 

[Tankallex]

As odd as it sounds, I was kinda hoping Nintendo would be the ones to grab 'em. Oh well, at least it wasn't EA.

 

[Alric]

 

[San3711]

I feel okay with this whole situation right now, but it's likely that I will look back on this a year later and just feel depressed.

 

[Ninjimbo]

At least they got bought out by a stable company.

 

[thepotatoman]

Is it not possible that Atlus doesn't get put into the Sega ecosystem and they just remain their own company? My impression is that Sega isn't very profitable while Atlus has been, but Sega's owners are rich from other investments while Atlus's investors are bankrupt from other investments.

Seems more risky to let the less profitable corporate structure absorb and take control of the more profitable one. The best course would probably be to just let Atlus remain Atlus, and be open to franchise crossover if need be, like if Atlus wants to translate Yakuza.

 

[yami4ct]

I wish I had this level of faith in Sega.

Seriously, name a bad thing SEGA's done that would be equitable to the ATLUS side. I'm a huge Yakuza fan, but even I'll admit that those games are huge localization efforts. The work that needs to be put into those games far exceeds all but the biggest ATLUS titles. Heck, even the Persona series is probably an easier job. Valkyira Chronicles 3? Again, pretty damn large game and on a dead platform. It's almost a guarantee 2 lost them money. PSO2? An MMO is the BIGGEST of localization efforts. Add on top of that the fact most of the US fans that would play it are already playing and paying via the english patch.

ATLUS games make money, in the US as well. Even their niche titles, like the EO games, do quite well for the size of the franchise. As long as that doesn't change, things are going to be just fine.

 

[Gamerloid]

so, they are now tied down to Sammy Sega, at least with Sony we would see their games worldwide

We have no clue what will happen. I doubt they are buying Atlus to just have their games no longer localized. With Sony, they'd be exclusives. Not the best route for Atlus.

 

[Soriku]

Consider Atlus and Sega's relationship in Japan, Sega was one of the more likely choices.

Honestly no matter who bought them people would inevitably freak out (except maybe if Sony bought them) so I'm just gonna wait and see what happens.

 

[fvng]

People not buying Valkyria Chronicles killed Valkyria Chronicles.

Lie to people and they will dislike you. Tell them the truth and they will hate you

 

[Megidolaon]

Well, look on the bright side. At least Atlus will hopefully benefit from Sega's budget. I think P5 will benefit from this and be the most polished refined Persona ever...when it comes out in 2017!!

 

[charlequin]

There's no "even" here. Nintendo would've been the ideal scenario.

This (and its other two console equivalents) is easy the least sensible of the nonsensical things people have to say about this. Given the platform strategy and type of development Atlus do, any platform-holder would dramatically reduce their options and cut into their ability to maintain their existing franchises.

Goodbye Persona series, goodbye Megaten series.

Yes, Sega paid $140 million to do literally nothing and kill all of Atlus' franchises for no reason.

 

[Eusis]

Right. The concern that Atlus is going to see an inevitable talent drain now, or they'll be pressured to scale their titles up unsustainably, or that they'll start to move into social/mobile gaming over a long period of time -- that's all pretty reasonable. But the idea that Persona 5 is going to come out and not be released in the US is dopey.

Yeah, Persona 5 is the last thing I'm worried about. At worst they screw up the localization because they got rid of Atlus USA and didn't get together a good team to do the job instead, and if they outsource to the likes of 8-4 it'll probably be more a matter of nitpicking. It's smaller titles and further into the future I'd be more worried about, but for now I'm primarily concerned about Atlus USA.

 

[PixyJunket]

Ugh. The only worse outcome would have been Sony.

 

[cajunator]

Huh

I love Sega. Im very happy with this outcome!!

 

[dragonlife]

Not sure how to feel about this. I have such mixed emotions right now.

 

[ZenTzen]

Is it not possible that Atlus doesn't get put into the Sega ecosystem and they just remain their own company? My impression is that Sega isn't very profitable while Atlus has been, but Sega's owners are rich from other investments while Atlus's investors are bankrupt from other investments.

Seems more risky to let the less profitable corporate structure absorb and take control of the more profitable one. The best course would probably be to just let Atlus remain Atlus, and be open to franchise crossover if need be, like if Atlus wants to translate Yakuza.

how is the Sammy/Sega thing, i assume Sega is its own company, so can we expect the same for Atlus, this stuff is depressing

 

[VanillaCakeIsBurning]

I know there's a lot of negativity permeating this thread right now which is completely understandable.

However I think we should hold on to that faint glimmer of hope that everything will be alright in the end.

 

[i-Jest]

A very good chance. People need to look at this process with some logic instead of just flipping out.

Atlus itself -- not Index as a whole, but the consumer games development division that we're talking about here -- is a consistently profitable enterprise. The listed sale price is $141m in US dollars -- a price that would be quite excessive simply to pick up a couple IPs whose value is heavily invested in their current, dedicated-niche-fanbase manifestation. Sammy also bought Atlus over a variety of other bidders, after Index specifically talked about looking for a buyer who would maintain some continuity in the operation.

Paying that kind of money to just loot the corpse and turn currently profitable IPs into mobile waste dumps would be quite pointless when, as it stands, they can buy Atlus, let them remain profitable doing what they already do, and also exploit them via sleazy mobile titles and so on.

Atlus USA is definitely the bigger concern here.

Right, I mean their strategy after buying Relic, Sports Interactive, Three Ring Designs, and Creative Assembly has been to pump more money into their games and also have them open a few side businesses, but they didn't tear out their core businesses.

Were someone to choose a rock to stand and complain on, it should be about their games going more AAA than mobile only.

Atlus USA though, yes there are notably real worries here, and perhaps some worries about localization for things they don't see as flagships.

I am now worried about Atlus USA and how this acquisition will affect them and the quality of what they do going forward. I'm worried about Atlus in general. All we can do is wait and see how things turn out. Persona maybe safe, and by proxy SMT. Those are the heavy hitters of Atlus. I'm worried about the talent behind those games and others. I imagine layoffs will occur. This will or course affect the quality of games. Anyone think SMT x Fire Emblem will be affected by this quality wise?

I for one feel defeated.

 

[grandjedi6]

Best case scenario: Sega leaves Atlus alone and allows Atlus USA to publish Sega properties too, unhindered.

Worst Case scenario: Sega shuts down Atlus USA and moves Atlus JP to smartphone development.

 

[sleepykyo]

Not sure how to feel about this.

 

[Error]

terrible news, of all companies had to be fucking sega. just ugh.

 

[Takao]

Consider Atlus and Sega's relationship in Japan, Sega was one of the more likely choices.

Honestly no matter who bought them people would inevitably freak out (except maybe if Sony bought them) so I'm just gonna wait and see what happens.

Nintendo fans would seethe if Sony bought Index. #ripthatonecrossoverwesawnofootageof

 

[randomkid]

To clarify (finally), Sega Sammy wants to revitalize Index's handheld and home console games division. Sega has been loosing money the last two quarters largely due to a downturn in the Western gaming market [according to the article, dunno if it's true].

Atlus, Index's gaming brand, has quite strong gaming franchises, like Shin Megami Tensei, and has been making a yearly profit recently. Sega Sammy would like to use the assets of Atlus productively, including the idea of them developing games for smartphones.

Hmm... did the article list "Shin Megami Tensei" as a strong gaming franchise? Since it's a Japanese article I'm assuming they're aware of the term distinction.

 

[BronsonLee]

This (and its other two console equivalents) is easy the least sensible of the nonsensical things people have to say about this. Given the platform strategy and type of development Atlus do, any platform-holder would dramatically reduce their options and cut into their ability to maintain their existing franchises.

Yes, Sega paid $140 million to do literally nothing and kill all of Atlus' franchises for no reason.

Bing bang boom. Atlus makes games for multiple platforms and multiple regions, restricting them to either would be suicide for that company.

And yes, Sega hated how Persona 3 ended so they're finally taking the opportunity to nuke it once and for all

 

[Darknight]

Atlus USA to publish Yakuza 5/Kenzan to US markets?

 

[androvsky]

On the other hand that may mean they REALLY don't see a point in Atlus USA and rip them apart anyway. Ideally, yeah, they just expand Atlus USA to be the new Sega USA and buff them up into a bigger localization arm, but I get the feeling more and more companies would rather move most of their international operations to Europe.

That's possible certainly. I'd like to think the reason Sega's been silent on major localizations (outside a quick and dirty Miku print run for Cypton's US release) is that they were hoping the Atlus purchase would go through, leaving Atlus USA to handle all the text-heavy niche stuff. Since they're actually good at it.

A bit of positive thinking, hopefully not entirely unwarranted.

 

[yami4ct]

Shit Persona's every year.

No Megatens ever.

GAF Cries

SMTIV sold pretty damn well, especially in Japan. It exceeded a lot of people's expectation. I would expect to see more, albeit handheld, SMT proper games rather than less.

 

[fvng]

Yes, Sega paid $140 million to do literally nothing and kill all of Atlus' franchises for no reason.

Sega killed all their franchises? citation needed

 

[OnFire331]

I'm not going to freak out at these news until I know what's going to happen to Atlus USA. Still, I don't get the doomsayers, Sega isn't the worst buyer Atlus could have had. For all we know, it could mean business as usual at Atlus.

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

Ugh. The only worse outcome would have been Sony.

Nintendo and Microsoft would have been much worse

 

[jj984jj]

Best case scenario: Sega leaves Atlus alone and allows Atlus USA to publish Sega properties too, unhindered.

Worst Case scenario: Sega shuts down Atlus USA and moves Atlus JP to smartphone development.

Needs a realistic scenario.

 

[XANDER CAGE]

Sega killed all their franchises? citation needed

woosh

 

[CrazyDude]

Most likely the persona series and the shin series will be safer, but most everything else will be up in the air when it comes to localization.

 

[Dysun]

Dammit, this is awful news. No Yakuza and now more will follow

 

[Soulflarz]

Nintendo and Microsoft would have been much worse

Indeed

The issue is
I hate sega buying them
But i cant think of too many better choices

 

[tm24]

So how long until i get my free Jack Frost DLC for Sonic Racing Transformed?

 

[ZenTzen]

Ugh. The only worse outcome would have been Sony.

how, actually having games released worldwide and substantial backing isnt something bad

 

[BronsonLee]

Most likely the persona series and the shin series will be safer, but most everything else will be up in the air when it comes to localization.

AW MAN, now I'll never get to play Snowboard Kids again!

 

[iammeiam]

How many Atlus titles outsell whatever numbers the Yakuza games pulled in the US? Sega makes me worried about a jacked-up threshold for acceptable sales killing localizations.

 

[No_Style]

Sega, just give Yakuza 5 to Atlas USA to localize. Also, would you kindly leave them to do their thing?

Thanks!

 

[DSveno]

so, they are now tied down to Sammy Sega, at least with Sony we would see their games worldwide

I hope you know how much sense you're making here. I'm sure that $140 million will be gained back just from Japan.

 

[Edgeward]

So more localization woes

I'm very scared.

Put Kanji and Chie is Virtua Fighter pls

 

[Crayons]

I know there's a lot of negativity permeating this thread right now which is completely understandable.

However I think we should hold on to that faint glimmer of hope that everything will be alright in the end.

Sega makes Atlus develope only iOS pay2win games, any games they developed stay in Japan because Sega thinks they'll not enough interest in Atlus' franchises.

 

[snow in jamaica]

Great news for one reason only.
Mara in the next sonic kart game. He's already got a chariot!!!!!

petition

 

[Einbroch]

Needs a realistic scenario.

Established series get localized, new f2p phone games with said established series as well.

 

[Caronte]

Ugh. The only worse outcome would have been Sony.

No.

 

[vall03]

how is the Sammy/Sega thing, i assume Sega is its own company, so can we expect the same for Atlus, this stuff is depressing

Basically yes, Sega Corp is under Sega Sammy Holdings who owns a whole lot of other companies mainly in the entertainment fields. So if I'm reading the report right, Index/Atlus will be under Sega Sammy Holdings in their group companies along side Sega Corp.