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

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Caerith said:
So since we're on 20 pages of Nintendo vs Sony and speculation of who and whose mothers would ruin Persona forever...

Is there any merit to these "so-and-so should buy Atlus" talks? Index/Atlus isn't like THQ, all able to sell off developers to cover their debts. Index didn't just buy Atlus, they merged with it; all of Index's debt belongs to Atlus, so if Nintendo/Sony/your mom buys Atlus, they have to do so by paying down all of Index's debts. They'd be stupid to do so, really.

If anyone (Nintendo, Sony, your mom) were to "buy Atlus," they'd likely just be buying parts of Atlus-- an IP here, some office chairs there, some art assets over there. But there's no reason to do that, either. The IPs, on their own, aren't worth the price-- the "Persona" name doesn't sell systems (or even raise eyebrows outside of GAF)-- and Atlus assets aren't exactly, well, groundbreaking. The real value of Atlus games is from the talent behind them, and it would be a lot cheaper just to hire the staff after Atlus goes down with the Index ship. Sony could hire the Persona team to make Bearsona, all without having to "buy Atlus." Nintendo could get "Shin Mario Tensei" and so what if it replaces Jack Frost with Yoshi, it would still be a great game and nobody has to "buy Atlus" to make it.

From the OP, it seems like the creditors know that the non-Atlus parts of Index are worthless, and that they want to restructure Index to basically be just all Atlus, and for Atlus to continue business as usual. For this to happen, they need someone to invest and keep Atlus from having to fire all their staff and sell all their chairs. They're not looking for a buyer, they're looking for an investor.

At least, that's my take on it.
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duckroll said:
Important post

https://www.release.tdnet.info/inbs/140120130627078929.pdf

This is the official press release sent out announcing their civil restructuring. There's a lot of legal speak in it, but further down one of the important sections is their outlook for the situation. It states that the game division is clearly the most desirable and functional part of Index's business, and that's one area they plan on expanding on specifically. They will seek out and select a sponsor as soon as possible to conduct a business transfer before the situation further damages the value of this core business.

Sounds like they're looking for a partner or a straight buy-out.
Click to expand...

Basically to me it sounds like they might be interested in physically removing the gaming part to sell off. If they're simply looking for an "investor" then Nintendo/Sony could still end up buying a chunk of Atlus, essentially making it difficult for Atlus to be multiplat.
 
Caerith said:
So since we're on 20 pages of Nintendo vs Sony and speculation of who and whose mothers would ruin Persona forever...

Is there any merit to these "so-and-so should buy Atlus" talks? Index/Atlus isn't like THQ, all able to sell off developers to cover their debts. Index didn't just buy Atlus, they merged with it; all of Index's debt belongs to Atlus, so if Nintendo/Sony/your mom buys Atlus, they have to do so by paying down all of Index's debts. They'd be stupid to do so, really.

If anyone (Nintendo, Sony, your mom) were to "buy Atlus," they'd likely just be buying parts of Atlus-- an IP here, some office chairs there, some art assets over there. But there's no reason to do that, either. The IPs, on their own, aren't worth the price-- the "Persona" name doesn't sell systems (or even raise eyebrows outside of GAF)-- and Atlus assets aren't exactly, well, groundbreaking. The real value of Atlus games is from the talent behind them, and it would be a lot cheaper just to hire the staff after Atlus goes down with the Index ship. Sony could hire the Persona team to make Bearsona, all without having to "buy Atlus." Nintendo could get "Shin Mario Tensei" and so what if it replaces Jack Frost with Yoshi, it would still be a great game and nobody has to "buy Atlus" to make it.

From the OP, it seems like the creditors know that the non-Atlus parts of Index are worthless, and that they want to restructure Index to basically be just all Atlus, and for Atlus to continue business as usual. For this to happen, they need someone to invest and keep Atlus from having to fire all their staff and sell all their chairs. They're not looking for a buyer, they're looking for an investor.

At least, that's my take on it.
Click to expand...

This makes me sad, but is probably true.
*sigh*
 
At this point are there really any buyout that would benefit Atlus? Serious question. I'm not sure are there any other company any way like Atlus.
Can they just buy themselves?
 
Jamix012 said:
Basically to me it sounds like they might be interested in physically removing the gaming part to sell off.
Click to expand...
I read it as they're interested in removing everything but the gaming part. The gaming part is the only part that makes money.

Arthea said:
At this point are there really any buyout that would benefit Atlus? Serious question. I'm not sure are there any other company any way like Atlus.
Can they just buy themselves?
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Atlus could probably self-manage, but "buying themselves" entails paying off all the money that Index execs embezzled over the years.
 
If Atlus is gone, Nintendo, especially Nintendo 3DS would truly be without 3rd party support.

It means Atlus dies, 3DS dies too. Good to know you 3DS and whole Nintendo handheld department.
 
18-Volt said:
If Atlus is gone, Nintendo, especially Nintendo 3DS would truly be without 3rd party support.

It means Atlus dies, 3DS dies too. Good to know you 3DS and whole Nintendo handheld department.
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The fuck.
 
Caerith said:
Atlus could probably self-manage, but "buying themselves" entails paying off all the money that Index execs embezzled over the years.
Click to expand...

But I thought they are only a part of company, so buying their part should do it, no? Although these are probably huge money still, we are talking about.
 
erpg said:
So, Dragon's Crown. It's still safe for August, right? I was counting the days....
Click to expand...

Atlus has confirmed as much already via its official Twitter feed.

8640baee827c7a5b0a57cb9f39f13c19.png


My translation off the cuff, from bottom to top:

"The PlayStation 3/PlayStation Vita versions of Dragon's Crown, both the retail and digital download versions, are set to be released on July 25 as it was originally scheduled. We apologize for worrying our users."

"Multiplayer and save data sharing functionality for Dragon's Crown is conducted via the PlayStation Network. Because of this, multiplayer services are guaranteed."

"Additionally, downloadable content that's currently in development for Shin Megami Tensei IV, as well as the retail and demo releases for Etrian Odyssey: The Millennium Girl [not sure what the official localized title is, but it's the remake] are set to proceed for the time being."

A few sentences were trimmed down for efficiency, but that's the long and short of it.
 
Femmeworth said:
indh0BCp14Tu2.gif
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So why do you say he is wrong? The last time I checked out a Bayonetta thread just to see what Nintendo was buying into the part you bolded is the conventional wisdom.


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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A post someone made a page back about buying Atlus means buying the debts of Index weakens the chance of anyone buying it. It would be in Nintendo's better interest to make Atlus into a second party.

Their statements about buying more talent has always had that implied caveat that they had a team size they originally thought could carry them for multiple consoles and handhelds but the 3rd party situation messed that all up. Investing in Atlus instead of buying them would allow them to ride out this console season and give them the option to wind down on their labor expenses if the next console after the WiiU takes off with 3rd party support.
 
Jamix012 said:
Sort of the same thing. One part is being removed from another. They're being removed from eachother.
Click to expand...
Sort of. There's still the issue of the debt, though. They wouldn't just sell the gaming side (which has all of the value) and hold on to the book-cooking side, though.
 
If there ever was a need for a kickstarter rescue fund, this was it.

That being said, Atlus have an inmense value as a developers, I am sure that there will be more than enough buyers interested on them. Atlus becoming the first party of one major hardware developer would be huge news and we all know it.
 
18-Volt said:
If Atlus is gone, Nintendo, especially Nintendo 3DS would truly be without 3rd party support.

It means Atlus dies, 3DS dies too. Good to know you 3DS and whole Nintendo handheld department.
Click to expand...

Just a little bit of hyperbole in this post.

The 3DS would still have Monster Hunter and a good portion of Japanese third party support in general.
 
Pepsiman said:
Atlus has confirmed as much already via its official Twitter feed.

8640baee827c7a5b0a57cb9f39f13c19.png


My translation off the cuff, from bottom to top:

"The PlayStation 3/PlayStation Vita versions of Dragon's Crown, both the retail and digital download versions, are set to be released on July 25 as it was originally scheduled. We apologize for worrying our users."

"Multiplayer cooperative functionality for Dragon's Crown is conducted via the PlayStation Network. Because of this, multiplayer services are guaranteed."

"Additionally, downloadable content that's currently in development for Shin Megami Tensei IV, as well as the retail and demo releases for Etrian Odyssey: The Millennium Girl [not sure what the official localized title is, but it's the remake] are set to proceed for the time being."

A few sentences were trimmed down for efficiency, but that's the long and short of it.
Click to expand...

Thank you
 
damn..i really like the shin megami tensei series..i hope someone buy them..weren't nintendo working with them for the fire emblem x SMT crossover?
 
Ikael said:
If there ever was a need for a kickstarter rescue fund, this was it.

That being said, Atlus have an inmense value as a developers, I am sure that there will be more than enough buyers interested on them. Atlus becoming the first party of one major hardware developer would be huge news and we all know it.
Click to expand...

West? Atlus? What?

That's like mentioning a couch and fish scales on the same sentence for some reason. And yes, I did use a random word generator to make sure the things I would mention are absolutely irrelevant.
 
On a side note, is Persona 2 IS worth playing? I'm hovering over the purchase button on my vita. Bit worried it may be too mechanically archaic.
 
18-Volt said:
I was talking about west. 3DS still has a pretty good 3rd party support in Japan. In west only company supporting 3DS is Atlus right now. MH has no effect whatsoever.
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18-Volt said:
What what? Am I missing something? Did Square-enix just announce Dragon Quest localizations? Or Namco, Digimon Re: Digitize? Or Did Capcom suddenly decide to develop MML3 after all? Or is ubisoft still coming with Assassin's Creed 3DS? Level-5's titles Layton vs PW, Fantasy Life, Yokai Watch are all coming soon, right?
Click to expand...

Moving the goal posts? 3DS has pretty good 3rd party support in the west - coming up is Rune Factory 4 from XSEED and Sonic: Lost World from Sega. Ace Attorney from Capcom and Bravely Default from Square Enix eventually.

I also think that MH4 will get localized some time next year.
 
18-Volt said:
What what? Am I missing something? Did Square-enix just announce Dragon Quest localizations? Or Namco, Digimon Re: Digitize? Or Did Capcom suddenly decide to develop MML3 after all? Or is ubisoft still coming with Assassin's Creed 3DS? Level-5's titles Layton vs PW, Fantasy Life, Yokai Watch are all coming soon, right?
Click to expand...

The problem is with your initial statement. The 3DS is not going to die without western Atlus suppport.
 
18-Volt said:
I was talking about west. 3DS still has a pretty good 3rd party support in Japan. In west only company supporting 3DS is Atlus right now. MH has no effect whatsoever.
Click to expand...

What about Sega? Marvelous / Neverland? Level 5? Disney Interactive Studios? Capcom? Warner Bros.? Activision?

Did all of those companies just magically disappear overnight? :-P
 
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