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Index (Atlus) entering into a restructuring bankruptcy; looking to transfer/sell

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The problem with third parties these days is that some focus on the Western market for AAA games or mobile for lower budget games. I don't know a third party focused on those specific elements would go after Atlus, but it could happen...

This generation has been brutal. Fucking hell.
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Keep in mind that Atlus was bought way back in 2006 by Index, and the current crisis seems to have more to do with Index's administration than the gaming side.
 
I've purchased more games from atlus over the last few years than any other developer besides Nintendo... they have all of my love and support! They need to survive!

Sony should invest in them. Having them exclusive on the vita and ps4 is a huge trump card for the jrpg gamers out there
 
wrowa said:
Still, I'd like to see SMT x FE first. This has the potential to be really interesting, I think. And I'm not as confident as Sendoku about its fate -- it's entirely dependent on the contract between both parties and a sudden bankruptcy/change of ownership can change a lot of things.
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Sure if they went backrupt there wouldn't be much to do since the Atlus that would fulfill the contract wouldn't exist anymore. But I can tell you that when you make a contract to co-develop a game with Nintendo you don't make a contract that just lets you drop the development like that just because the ownership changes. It's rather irrevelant really.
 
I'd prefer it if they'd stay independent of platform holders, whether that be any of the big three. Games hardware is in such an uncertain place in the mid-to-long term, and some companies are struggling more than others, that I'd hate to see one of my favourite IPs (Persona) inexplicably tied to one platform forever. That said, I don't think any of the first party is particularly interested, despite what deluded fanboys have convinced themselves into believing.

But quite frankly, I want Atlus to remain independent so they can take their IP where they wanted, rather than being stuck on potentially shitty future platforms forever. But then I'd also hate it if some regressive megapub got hold of them and just gutted the teams and farmed the IPs out, or whatever. I would hate to see someone screw up Atlus' output with things like "broadening" the title, or "bringing it to the West", and all the horrible compromises that follow from doing that (see Capcom's decline in quality over the years). *shudders*
 
Scarl said:
Seriously. Why would anyone want Sony or Nintendo to buy them? Atlus has plenty of franchises with their own fanbase on both sides. Going exclusive would do more harm than good.
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If Square Enix (or a large mobile game company) to bought them they be put on iOS.
If Konami bought them we'd never hear from them again.
If Capcom bought them they'd start pandering to the western market.

Bandai Namco wouldn't be the worst I guess but I think under Sony or Nintendo which they have the closest ties to they'd have the best output.
 
Thats what I was afraid of especially that a couple of months ago I.H announced their debts!

Atlus must be taken by someone who are willing to support them all the way!

Please, I dont want Atlus to close and vanish :(
 
What if MS seriously stepped in as their plan to end up boosting their hold in Japan? It could work wonders for Xbox One...when they release it there.
 
What a terrible news to wake up to. Whoever ends up getting Atlus I hope they won't influence the direction of SMT games too much. :/
 
DBPlayer said:
I think it's more delusional to think Sony will buy an entire developer just to keep one semi-popular hardcore game on their last gen/dying handheld platform. It make more sense for Nintendo to do it due to the lack of 3rd party support, plus the hard-core RPG gamers they will convert to their platform. Sony doesn't have the same issue - they will get hosts of other popular RPGs.
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You know the same can be said for Nintendo:

"I think it's more delusional to think Nintendo will buy an entire developer just to keep one semi-popular hardcore game on their last gen/dying WiiU.

Oh yeah, Persona will bring the hardcore rpg lovers to the WiiU lmao, not Final Fantasy or Tales.
 
Caelestis said:
Whoever ends up getting Atlus I hope they won't influence the direction of SMT games too much. :/
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They now arbitrarily need to sell 4m copies and appeal to the Call of Duty audience.

Seriously, I'd like to see someone less involved in the games industry, who is interested in Atlus as a profitable company, pick them up. Just let them do their thing so long as it makes money.
 
M_Night said:
HOLD ME!!!!! ! I'M SCARED :(
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tumblr_mg5wvexZ491r8x55lo1_r1_500.gif


You know what happens in the end though.....
 
Homu said:
I'm not sure whether it's clear whether Nintendo really bought them or if Namco just sold them and Nintendo happened to buy them, if that even makes a difference. In any case that happened 6 years ago.
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It was a bit more complicated than that if I remember correctly. It wasn't a random thing, though - Monolith wasn't up for sale, and Nintendo was no random buyer. The two already had a relationship after Baten Kaitos and Disaster, and I believe NBGI wanted to move headquarters and close/ absorb Monolith at the time. Monolith didn't want that, so they asked Nintendo for help. Or something like this, it's been a while.

Still, one of the reasons Nintendo bought them was probably to secure their investment in Disaster, so that's something the Atlus and Monolith situations have in common. And the SMTxFE deal probably makes Atlus less attractive to Sony or Microsoft.
 
wsippel said:
It was a bit more complicated than that if I remember correctly. It wasn't a random thing, though - Monolith wasn't up for sale, and Nintendo was no random buyer. The two already had a relationship after Baten Kaitos and Disaster, and I believe NBGI wanted to move headquarters and close/ absorb Monolith at the time. Monolith didn't want that, so they asked Nintendo for help. Or something like this, it's been a while.

Still, one of the reasons Nintendo bought them was probably to secure their investment in Disaster, so that's something the Atlus and Monolith situations have in common. And the SMTxFE deal probably makes Atlus less attractive to Sony or Microsoft.
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I see

Omikaru said:
They now arbitrarily need to sell 4m copies and appeal to the Call of Duty audience.

Seriously, I'd like to see someone less involved in the games industry, who is interested in Atlus as a profitable company, pick them up. Just let them do their thing so long as it makes money.
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TEPCO
 
Omikaru said:
They now arbitrarily need to sell 4m copies and appeal to the Call of Duty audience.

Seriously, I'd like to see someone less involved in the games industry, who is interested in Atlus as a profitable company, pick them up. Just let them do their thing so long as it makes money.
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This is why I'd be terrified if SE got a hold of them. D:
 
Some information about the Fire Emblem crossover, which makes me think that Nintendo could show some interest in acquiring Atlus:

This was part of the interview with the magazine Hobby Consolas, the same one where they talked about Awakening having to sell more than 250k, but this later part seemed to be mostly ignored because it wasn't in the first scan.

http://www.fireemble...t_from=&ucat=2

http://www.fireemble...t_from=&ucat=2

What can you say about that crossover between Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei?

- Hitoshi Yamagami: For a long time, I wanted to create a FE on ours times, on the real world. Imagine a Pegasus that comes from the sky and lands on the Building 109 of Shibuya, Tokyo. I always though that would be incredible. At the same time, I know it’s hard because of how FE is. I visited many companies to express these ideas. When I went to Atlus, I was told that Shin Megami Tensei together with Fire Emblem is what I wanted. So, I soon said that to Intelligent Systems and started this very special collaboration. Oops! I shouldn’t say that the game takes place in the real world. We haven’t announced it, right?
- Others: Not really.
- Masahiro Higuchi: Not yet.
- Tohru Narihiro: Well, anyway, this is how the project was born, mixing these kind of ideas. I’m sure you’ll get to see the birth of a new franchise and interesting ideas.
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Basically, it sounds like Nintendo were initially just after a development team for a modern Fire Emblem game, and it was Atlus that suggested making it a crossover. If Nintendo are after more development resources, it is possible they might attempt to solidify their relationship under a situation like this. On the other hand, I can't see Nintendo interested in the overall "Index" group...

Although, really, is there no group related to Index that could acquire its assets without basically changing anything and allowing Atlus to continue operating without changes? That would be the best case scenario here, I guess.
 
I knew this thread would be coming ever since that previous thread about the corruption in Index. Whatever happens, I hope that Etrian Odyssey and Devil Survivor can continue on the 3DS. I want Etrian Odyssey Untold and Devil Survivor 2: Break Record to be released worldwide.

Reading this thread makes me want Nintendo to buy Atlus just to see the reactions.
 
Between this and my aunt having a tumor, this is a terrible day.

I guess the P3 movie is delayed indefinitely or canceled. I wonder if anyone will buy them out. Maybe NIS or someone.
 
qRELWAB.png


頑張れクマ！
You can do it, [Atlus]! ~kuma

ソニーで買ってください！！
Please buy them, Sony!!

きっとうまくいけるクマ！
Surely it can go well! ~kuma
 
Well, this isn't surprising. Someone at SCE made a call to show support to one of their teams. It's a shame this is happening now; probably the most inopportune time. Discussions were being had about what may be happening to Atlus since the initial news. We'll see what comes of it.
 
Oh boy...
I haven't followed the other thread because I just thought it was some smaller fraud from some subsidiary of Atlus and now it turns out to be the cpomplete opposite. Persona :(

Aquamarine said:
qRELWAB.png


頑張れクマ！
You can do it, [Atlus]! ~kuma

ソニーで買ってください！！
Please buy them, Sony!!

きっとうまくいけるクマ！
Surely it can go well! ~kuma
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Go and snatch them up yosp. I will forgive you for closing down Zipper and Studio Liverpool.
 
Guys let's open a GAF paypal account and everybody puts money on it so that we can buy Atlus and force them to make Persona 5
 
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