Author Topic: Atlus dissolved by parent company (Read 2766 times)

Great Rumbler · « **on:** August 30, 2010, 05:19:17 PM »

Quote

Index Holdings, the company that owns Japanese game developer and publisher Atlus, dissolved the JRPG maker as an independent entity on Monday, bringing its game division under the direct control of the parent company. Whether Atlus' publishing or foreign arms will survive the transition remains to be seen. At the very least, the Atlus brand will continue, according to a short press release by the firm's public relations department.
The move came as part of an ongoing attempt by Index to narrow its business focus to a handful of core, profitable areas, and Index has apparently been making key business decision for Atlus for some time. The mobile phone-based Persona 3 social game announced earlier this month, for example, was started under orders from Index.

The holding company has made no mention of what properties or exact divisions will survive the transition. However, the director of Atlus' recently announced PS3/Xbox 360 game Catherine, Katsura Hashino, released a statement on the game's official website that didn't directly address the issue, but implied that his team, along with an unspecified number of others were not affected by the change.

http://www.1up.com/news/atlus-disolved-parent-company

demi · « **Reply #1 on:** August 30, 2010, 05:24:08 PM »

Trying to think of the last Atlus game that was good... help me out here

Himu · « **Reply #2 on:** August 30, 2010, 05:36:52 PM »

heeba

hubba

gooba

gobba

jaoao?

eep

opp

ork

ah ah?

*breathes*

Van Cruncheon · « **Reply #3 on:** August 30, 2010, 05:40:38 PM »

weeaboo suicide pact meets at the shibuya station at 0800

Himu · « **Reply #4 on:** August 30, 2010, 05:41:29 PM »

I have my gun already loaded

iconoclast · « **Reply #5 on:** August 30, 2010, 06:15:45 PM »

Atlus' game development will be fine. It's just corporate restructuring.

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #6 on:** August 30, 2010, 06:20:34 PM »

Quote from: Genghis Cohen on August 30, 2010, 05:50:12 PM

They're totally going to sell the name Atlus to a Korean MMO developer

that joke is 3 years too late

http://megaten.aeriagames.com/

Great Rumbler · « **Reply #7 on:** August 30, 2010, 06:29:01 PM »

Quote from: iconoclast on August 30, 2010, 06:15:45 PM

Atlus' game development will be fine. It's just corporate restructuring.

That's pretty optimistic.

Himu · « **Reply #8 on:** August 30, 2010, 06:30:21 PM »

Quote from: iconoclast on August 30, 2010, 06:15:45 PM

Atlus' game development will be fine. It's just corporate restructuring.

People say this every time something like this happens.

Hitler Stole My Potato · « **Reply #9 on:** August 30, 2010, 06:33:25 PM »

Quote from: Van Cruncheon on August 30, 2010, 05:40:38 PM

weeaboo suicide pact meets at the shibuya station at 0800

I want pics.

Bebpo · « **Reply #10 on:** August 30, 2010, 06:37:59 PM »

Quote from: demi on August 30, 2010, 05:24:08 PM

Trying to think of the last Atlus game that was good... help me out here

wtf, Devil Survivor was last year!

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Strange Journey was this year!

[close]

iconoclast · « **Reply #11 on:** August 30, 2010, 06:38:21 PM »

This news doesn't really strike me as the doom and gloom type, is all. I'd say wait until they either start laying off staff or key people start to leave the company before worrying about this...

Bebpo · « **Reply #12 on:** August 30, 2010, 06:38:49 PM »

Quote from: Van Cruncheon on August 30, 2010, 05:40:38 PM

weeaboo suicide pact meets at the shibuya station at 0800

I'm with Tiesto. The day Megaten dies is the day I stop gaming.

Great Rumbler · « **Reply #13 on:** August 30, 2010, 06:40:15 PM »

Quote from: iconoclast on August 30, 2010, 06:38:21 PM

This news doesn't really strike me as the doom and gloom type, is all. I'd say wait until they either start laying off staff or key people start to leave the company before worrying about this...

Index Holdings ended Atlus as an independent company due to financial problems and folded them into the main corporation. I don't see how that can be viewed as anything other than bad.

Joe Molotov · « **Reply #14 on:** August 30, 2010, 06:42:45 PM »

Atlus' next title to be Shin Megami Dance Dance Fever for the Wii.

Himu · « **Reply #15 on:** August 30, 2010, 07:14:05 PM »

Quote from: Bebpo on August 30, 2010, 06:38:49 PM

Quote from: Van Cruncheon on August 30, 2010, 05:40:38 PM
weeaboo suicide pact meets at the shibuya station at 0800

I'm with Tiesto. The day Megaten dies is the day I stop gaming.

Tiesto has not posted in this thread.

magus · « **Reply #16 on:** August 30, 2010, 07:19:10 PM »

i wouldn't care much for atlus departure...
i mean all they do is rehash persona titles and occasionaly etrian odyssey so meh

Himu · « **Reply #17 on:** August 30, 2010, 07:21:00 PM »

get out

Rman · « **Reply #18 on:** August 30, 2010, 07:24:06 PM »

Quote from: Himuro on August 30, 2010, 07:14:05 PM

Quote from: Bebpo on August 30, 2010, 06:38:49 PM
Quote from: Van Cruncheon on August 30, 2010, 05:40:38 PM
weeaboo suicide pact meets at the shibuya station at 0800

I'm with Tiesto. The day Megaten dies is the day I stop gaming.

Tiesto has not posted in this thread.

It was on GAF, methinks.

archie4208 · « **Reply #19 on:** August 30, 2010, 07:31:54 PM »

If this means that Persona dies then I'm OK with this.

Third · « **Reply #20 on:** August 30, 2010, 07:33:53 PM »

get out

Akala · « **Reply #21 on:** August 30, 2010, 08:03:08 PM »

Bad news?

Oh well, there will always be

P5:THESOCIAL
P5:~love type~
P5:mobile

spoiler (click to show/hide)

P5:DS

[close]

ToxicAdam · « **Reply #22 on:** August 30, 2010, 09:08:55 PM »

Makes me pretty sad. The majority of the DS games I really enjoy are under their umbrella. I can't imagine them being very profitable in the States.

Don Flamenco · « **Reply #23 on:** August 30, 2010, 09:44:44 PM »

Quote from: ToxicAdam on August 30, 2010, 09:08:55 PM

Makes me pretty sad. The majority of the DS games I really enjoy are under their umbrella. I can't imagine them being very profitable in the States.

They develop their games cheaply...R+D1 pretty much used one engine last gen and the games were all similar, aside from some design tweaks.

Throw in replicas of the token hot girl's panties, which cost a few cents to manufacture, along with a plastic pendant and cloth map --voila--the initial print run sells out instantly.

HyperZoneWasAwesome · « **Reply #24 on:** August 30, 2010, 11:04:55 PM »

Quote from: Bebpo on August 30, 2010, 06:37:59 PM

Quote from: demi on August 30, 2010, 05:24:08 PM
Trying to think of the last Atlus game that was good... help me out here

wtf, Devil Survivor was last year!

spoiler (click to show/hide)
Strange Journey was this year!
[close]

and Trauma Team was like three months ago.

This doesn't sound like good news at all. A corperete parent looking to swoop in, change long term management, and maximize profit sounds like the opposite of great.

Diunx · « **Reply #25 on:** August 31, 2010, 12:02:35 AM »

Never played any of their games.

chronovore · « **Reply #26 on:** August 31, 2010, 11:56:19 AM »

I always wondered how they stayed profitable. Them and Spike. How does spike keep finding money to localize and publish big games which cannot, do not, will not sell in Japan?

Bebpo · « **Reply #27 on:** August 31, 2010, 12:35:35 PM »

Quote from: chronovore on August 31, 2010, 11:56:19 AM

I always wondered how they stayed profitable. Them and Spike. How does spike keep finding money to localize and publish big games which cannot, do not, will not sell in Japan?

?

Atlus games sell pretty well. They do like 100-300k in Japan, which is basically the B sales tier below the few games that sell 500k-1m+ They do better in sales than any other jrpg publisher besides SquareEnix, Namco and Nintendo.

The financial stuff they are talking about that caused this is their arcade/pachinko division sales (I didn't even know they made any?) being down. Their game sales are all up from last gen and budgets have actually decreased with the move from PS2 -> DS/PSP.

Word is this isn't changing anything and Atlus games will still be called Atlus. Index Holdings was already the majority shareholder for years.

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #28 on:** August 31, 2010, 01:04:36 PM »

Quote from: chronovore on August 31, 2010, 11:56:19 AM

I always wondered how they stayed profitable. Them and Spike. How does spike keep finding money to localize and publish big games which cannot, do not, will not sell in Japan?

Atlus is a pretty major niche publisher in the U.S. They don't usually set the sales charts on fire (Demon's Souls was a fluke) but they cheaply localize games that regularly and consistently sell 50-80k and sometimes break out to a few hundred k.

EmCeeGrammar · « **Reply #29 on:** August 31, 2010, 03:19:18 PM »

This generation is just BananaS!

Eel O'Brian · « **Reply #30 on:** August 31, 2010, 03:20:16 PM »

disappointed by the lack of fatlus comics itt

Vizzys · « **Reply #31 on:** August 31, 2010, 03:27:53 PM »

Quote from: Eel O'Brian on August 31, 2010, 03:20:16 PM

disappointed by the lack of fatlus comics itt

http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r318/vizOA/fatlus/

have fun

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #32 on:** August 31, 2010, 03:34:25 PM »

Quote from: Viz on August 31, 2010, 03:27:53 PM

Quote from: Eel O'Brian on August 31, 2010, 03:20:16 PM
disappointed by the lack of fatlus comics itt

http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r318/vizOA/fatlus/

have fun

dumb photobucket question: those are small?

MCD · « **Reply #33 on:** August 31, 2010, 03:37:58 PM »

download or click on pictures?

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #34 on:** August 31, 2010, 03:40:25 PM »

it turns out photobucket is redirecting me to the mobile version of the site for God-knows-what reason

Eel O'Brian · « **Reply #35 on:** August 31, 2010, 03:45:41 PM »

thanks, viz

this is my fave

Third · « **Reply #36 on:** August 31, 2010, 03:47:29 PM »

Quote from: Viz on August 31, 2010, 03:27:53 PM

Quote from: Eel O'Brian on August 31, 2010, 03:20:16 PM
disappointed by the lack of fatlus comics itt

http://s147.photobucket.com/albums/r318/vizOA/fatlus/

have fun

amazing

Howard Alan Treesong · « **Reply #37 on:** August 31, 2010, 03:54:51 PM »

I only JUST noticed the action lines as ATLUS pops onto his previously-blank t-shirt

demi · « **Reply #38 on:** August 31, 2010, 04:06:59 PM »

chronovore · « **Reply #39 on:** August 31, 2010, 06:38:44 PM »

Quote from: Bebpo on August 31, 2010, 12:35:35 PM

Quote from: chronovore on August 31, 2010, 11:56:19 AM
I always wondered how they stayed profitable. Them and Spike. How does spike keep finding money to localize and publish big games which cannot, do not, will not sell in Japan?

?

Atlus games sell pretty well. They do like 100-300k in Japan, which is basically the B sales tier below the few games that sell 500k-1m+ They do better in sales than any other jrpg publisher besides SquareEnix, Namco and Nintendo.

The financial stuff they are talking about that caused this is their arcade/pachinko division sales (I didn't even know they made any?) being down. Their game sales are all up from last gen and budgets have actually decreased with the move from PS2 -> DS/PSP.

Word is this isn't changing anything and Atlus games will still be called Atlus. Index Holdings was already the majority shareholder for years.

Quote from: Howard Alan Treesong on August 31, 2010, 01:04:36 PM

Quote from: chronovore on August 31, 2010, 11:56:19 AM
I always wondered how they stayed profitable. Them and Spike. How does spike keep finding money to localize and publish big games which cannot, do not, will not sell in Japan?

Atlus is a pretty major niche publisher in the U.S. They don't usually set the sales charts on fire (Demon's Souls was a fluke) but they cheaply localize games that regularly and consistently sell 50-80k and sometimes break out to a few hundred k.

I still don't see how a model of selling 50-80K keeps anyone in business. The ROI has to involve J-to-E translation being performed by Eastern Europeans, or grind-auto-translated by LogoVista.

However, since you are such big brains, how about offering any explanation for Spike which doesn't involve laundering yakuza money?

iconoclast · « **Reply #40 on:** August 31, 2010, 06:47:07 PM »

Spike's cash cow is Dragon Ball. I'm guessing all of the western games they publish in Japan don't get a full localization. Probably just a text translation, like Yakuza 2 and 3 in the US. I guess that has been profitable for them?

Although I wish they would funnel all of their money into an HD Fire Pro Wrestling with GGPO netcode and a new King of Colosseum so they can go out in a blaze of glory.

Bebpo · « **Reply #41 on:** August 31, 2010, 06:51:20 PM »

Spike has occasional hits like Kenka Bancho:
http://ds.ign.com/articles/107/1074871p1.html

and their budget for games is practically nothing.

I mean did you see the "average Japanese game budgets" article that came out a month or two ago? Your average DS/PSP game costs like 100-500k to make. If it sells 100k copies like Kenka Bancho 4 did @ $40 a pop to the publisher (assuming the price is about 6000yen), you're looking at 4 million profit, with 3-3.5 million net. More than enough for a small company to coast and develop another bunch of <500k cost games.

Japan has a very cheap business model for the smaller devs. They know how to make games for cheap, re-use and build on older games to make sequels for cheap, advertise for cheap, and then when they sell 30-50k they do fine and the occasional 100k hit floats them for a couple of years.

Quote from: iconoclast on August 31, 2010, 06:47:07 PM

Spike's cash cow is Dragon Ball. I'm guessing all of the western games they publish in Japan don't get a full localization. Probably just a text translation, like Yakuza 2 and 3 in the US. I guess that has been profitable for them?

Although I wish they would funnel all of their money into an HD Fire Pro Wrestling with GGPO netcode and a new King of Colosseum so they can go out in a blaze of glory.

Oh wow, I didn't even realize they had DB. Yeah that's more than enough to keep them fine.

chronovore · « **Reply #42 on:** August 31, 2010, 07:43:33 PM »

Quote from: iconoclast on August 31, 2010, 06:47:07 PM

Spike's cash cow is Dragon Ball. I'm guessing all of the western games they publish in Japan don't get a full localization. Probably just a text translation, like Yakuza 2 and 3 in the US. I guess that has been profitable for them?

Although I wish they would funnel all of their money into an HD Fire Pro Wrestling with GGPO netcode and a new King of Colosseum so they can go out in a blaze of glory.

You and every other pro-wrestling fan. Everyone wants to fellate the corpse of FPW, but how many people actually bought the 2007 version...?

iconoclast · « **Reply #43 on:** August 31, 2010, 08:26:49 PM »

Yeah it looks like it bombed pretty hard in the states. I imported it in 2005 then bought it again in 2007 since it's the wrestling game of the forever.

I'm actually curious how well that series sold in Japan. I wasn't on GAF back when it was still around, so I've never seen any sales figures for it. Must have done well enough to go on for 15 years though.

News:

Author Topic: Atlus dissolved by parent company (Read 2766 times)