Atlus’ Parent company, Index Corporation had filed for “civil rehabilitation proceedings” in Japan back in July. Since then, there were a list of 20 different companies attempting to acquire the gaming studio known best for their Shin Megami Tensei and Persona series. Thanks to a message from Atlus head honcho Naoto Hiraoka, it has been announced that SEGA will be the parent company of Atlus effectively on November 1st of this year.
SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS purchased the Index Corporation for a tune of 14 Billion Yen (around $141 Million Dollars American) and Atlus will be restructured under Sega. Naoto stated in the letter below that he is excited to be working with Sega and that he thanks the fans for the support during this time. Hopefully with this new merger we’ll be able to see what kind of collaboration between Sega and Atlus can do.
Dear fans and customers,
I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for your support of ATLUS products.
As announced Tuesday through various news channels, we are going to continue with our business operations as part of SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS effective November 1, 2013.
As you may already know, Index Corporation filed for Civil Rehabilitation Proceedings in Japan on June 27 and since then, has been searching for a solution which would allow us to continue our business of making great games.
ATLUS has consistently received support and praise from our Faithful and our respected customers, and made great progress in recent years. So the recent incident must have surprised and worried all of you dearly. For that, I would like to express my deepest apologies.
We have nurtured a great relationship with SEGA Inc. for a long time, especially concerning our consumer games business in Japan. I believe the collaboration between the two companies at this time will be mutually beneficial for the following reasons:
Sega understands our drive to achieve quality and to expand awareness of the ATLUS brand.
Our respective strengths in game development complement each other well.
We are extremely happy to be able to continue with our business, and be able to report this good news to our fans and customers. Again, we would like to express our gratitude to everyone who has supported us.
Currently, we at the Consumer Software Division in Japan are focusing on developing future titles, and are willing to take on new challenges to further achieve growth and success.
Please stay tuned for future updates.
Naoto Hiraoka
President and CEO