Atlus (Persona, SMT, Trauma Center, Etrian Odyssey, etc.) Going Bankrupt

Thread title is actually not technically right, but the real issue is a little more complicated. Index Corporation, which owns Atlus, is going bankrupt, and will be restructured by creditors. The gaming division (i.e., Atlus) is the most desirable and function part of the company, and they seem to be looking for a partner or buy-out for it.

A lot of this is only being reported via Japanese sources, so I'll link to a NeoGAF thread (with translations, of both Japanese and legal speak):
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=605566

I was worried this might happen.

Hopefully things end up working out well for Atlus somehow, though I'm not thrilled about any of the potential players who might be interested in buying them. Sony or Nintendo would be the best IMO (as far as supporting Atlus and their "vision"), though they would then be limited to PS or Nintendo platforms only (Atlus does well in developing IPs on multiple platforms). The other Japanese companies (Square-Enix, Capcom, Koei, Konami, etc.) don't really give me a lot of confidence.

 

Just to clarify, Atlus didn't make Demon's Souls. In fact, they didn't even fund or publish it in Japan. From Software co-developed it with Sony (though I think just one guy from Sony was involved, so co-developed it a bit misleading...Sony did fund it though, and they own the IP). From Software was able to basically continue making these games by changing the IP a bit (i.e., Dark Souls), and getting Namco to publish/fund the game (no involvement from Sony or Atlus).

But Atlus (well..Atlus USA) did decide to publish it in NA since Sony wasn't very confident in it. And that action probably helped lead to the creation of Dark Souls and the success From Software has achieved overall. So even when they're not making games directly, they do have a pretty good impact on the industry (i.e., bringing "different" things to the market).

 

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

Sega has acquired Atlus (well, Index). Atlus will be a brand under a newly formed subsidiary (of Sega, not Sega Sammy...if that means anything) called Sega Dream Corporation.

Could be worse, though Sega worries me given that they tend not to localize a lot of their games for the West. Also don't know what this means for Atlus USA.

 

Yeah, Persona 5 should be fine (might worry about the quality of localization, if anything). Not as sure about Persona re-releases or Persona side stories. And the other SMT (or even non-SMT) stuff...

 

Sega bought them. They can do whatever the hell they want. So yeah, they could make P5 a Vita exclusive (or iOS/Android exclusive...released only in Japan).

Atlus guy said business will continue as usual, and I don't expect much to really change anytime soon (if P5 is a Vita exclusive, that would be because Atlus wanted it, not Sega). Sega does seem to be stressing that Atlus will be run the same as before (so people remain confident in the brand I guess), so that is somewhat encouraging. Could be some benefits to this, but still worries me.

And still not sure about Atlus USA, unless Sega wants multiple offices in the US...