Breaking news - Sega Buys Atlus

(I Wasn't sure if this should go in the exisiting SMT thread. I decided against, since Atlus makes more than SMT)

After months of speculation, the fate of Atlus is sealed - Index Holdings will be acquired by Sega Sammy, parent company of Sega.

http://nintendoeverything.com/sega-to-purchase-index-corporation/

In contrast to many other possible acquisitors, this will likely not affect the dev in any significant way. Nobody will lose or gain any exclusives, and things will proceed as planned. All that has changed is that the future of Atlus has been assured.

edited 17th Sep '13 10:39:38 PM by Mr.NaziFace

Eeeeeh....I can think of a lot of worse companies to buy Atlus, but Sega hasn't exactly been on the ball lately.

Especially with localization....

Wuh? Sega Sammy already owns Sega.

Persona 5 confirmed as Game Gear exclusive.

LOL

OP: better edit this - "After months of speculation, the fate of Sega is sealed - Sega will be acquired by Sega Sammy, parent company of Sega." Atlus was never mentioned in that sentence. lol

I wonder what the chances of Atlas buying themselves were? They could've stayed independent that way, right?

They'd have to offer Index more than Sega did. So unless Atlus were sitting on 14 billion yen (and they weren't), there's no chance.

Don't care. Just put out P5, I'll figure out the rest

Chie to be added to Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed?

Oh god hopefully this is good news.

And now we play the waiting game.

The slight irony in that is that Sega/Sammy used to own to the rights to Guilty Gear. Now, after Atlus collaborated with ASW for P4A, they own the guys who made Persona and MegaTen.

I'd honestly love to see someone from SkyGunner in the next Sonic & All-Stars Racing.

Conversely, maybe we'll get Shining Force and Phantasy Star cameos in P5.

edited 18th Sep '13 12:00:43 AM by X2X

Its the best news we were gonna get.

http://www.gamingbus.com/2013/09/18/why-sega-buying-atlus-was-the-best-we-could-have-hoped-for/

COME ON ROBOPON 3

Interesting that Sega Sammy is reluctant to ascertain the claim.

I don't speak Japanese, but from what I hear, they're now officially confirmed it, they just didn't like Nikkei spoiling the announcement for them.

Edit: Yeah, here's the official stuff.

http://www.segasammy.co.jp/english/pdf/release/20130918_index_e_final.pdf

edited 18th Sep '13 12:52:58 AM by Mr.NaziFace

Would I be wrong in saying that Atlus must've been in pretty bad shape to be bought by SEGA?

edited 18th Sep '13 4:52:10 AM by PhysicalStamina

Isn't it more on Atlus' parent company?

Oh definitely. Atlus was more or less Index's crown jewel; Persona, SMT and Etrian Odyssey are still making boatloads. But Index squandered that all, which is how we got here.

I hope SEGA is smart about this and doesn't interfere with Atlus too much. I mean, Atlus managed to stay profitable even with Index's colossal financial mismanagement, so anything could happen. And Sega doesn't actually seem to meddle that much in stuff made by their subsidiaries.

And if we're really lucky, (unlikely I know), they'll use Atlus USA to translate some of the stuff they're kind of leery about.

What Sega has done (and is still doing) with Sports Interactive and Creative Assembly should bring you at ease.

Atlus's take on the subject.

I just hope Sega doesn't force Atlus to bring less niche titles.

Hell,if anything,they should now let Atlus handle the Yakuza games(for instance,they could bring the HD Collection of 1 and 2.)

I think everyone would prefer if they bring 5 and, when its out, Ishin.

Sega-Sammy buys Atlus, not Sega.

Here comes the Sega curse. Expect localization no-nos, cancelled stuff, and bad sales if it isn't Sonic.

That said Sega isn't terrible, but they have a bad marketing team and upper management. Sega of Japan are pretty dickish too.

I can't believe this is happening though.

edited 18th Sep '13 3:22:15 PM by Vertigo_High

Oh good, now Sega has even more franchises to sit on and not do anything with.

edited 18th Sep '13 3:23:09 PM by Mullon