Fans of popular Atlus games like Shin Megami Tensei IV and Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan can start to turn that sigh of defeat into a sigh of relief. In mid-September, SEGA Sammy Holdings obtained Atlus's parent company, Index Corporation, after Index was forced to declare bankruptcy — an event that left many die-hard Atlus fans worried for the sanctity of their favourite gaming company.
But in a new interview with Famitsu magazine, Chief Operating Officer of Sega, Naoya Tsurumi, discussed Atlus at length, assuring fans that everything about the development structure at Atlus will "remain the same," and even going so far as to announce that the masters of the RPG genre at Atlus are being encouraged to reignite any of SEGA's dormant IPs. Tsurumi also stressed the importance of independence between the two entities, indicating that Atlus would retain near limitless freedom to handle its own affairs as it sees fit:
As a new company, we will venture together, with Index working as an independent company. The plan is to have Atlus and Sega continue shining as brands, while aiming to increase their degree of independence. They’ll continue managing their own brands and IPs, and making them bigger. Then, Sega will be the ones to sell them. So, think of it as us telling them “Continue working on your own IPs with pride and confidence—the sky is the limit.
One revealing point in the discussion came when Tsurumi admitted that "Sega have never excelled in RPG titles." He expressed a great deal of enthusiasm for the fact that Atlus, which specializes in the genre, appeals to North American gamers, and that it would be able to fill SEGA's gaps in the area of RPGs with some of the best IPs in the business.
"The fact that they’ve been able to capture fans from North America is really huge," exclaimed Tsurumi. "That said, for Sega, it’s a big plus to have more IPs, but an even bigger plus to have more genres."
With Atlus director Katsura Hashino announcing earlier in the year that new titles are "under zealous development" at the company, 2014 promises to be an exciting time for the fledgling partnership between these two giants of gaming. Here's hoping Nintendo fans can look forward to a slew of great new Atlus titles as a result of this new pairing.
[source siliconera.com]
Comments 66
Go on Nintendo, you know:
a) it makes sense
b) you need to get the Japanese market on board with the Wii U
c) you need more games for Wii U
Skies of Arcadia 2, do it sega/atlus
Lemmie guess, Sonic the hedgehog in RPG land! just joking, a new game of Defenders of Oasis would be nice, but I would like to see it more real life like instead of anime graphics for a change.
Off topic: After reading this article I want to play Golden Sun.. There should be a Golden Sun game for the 3DS!
On topic: A sequel to Dark Brotherhood, is it possible?!
I'm glad Sega is making sure Atlus stay as Atlus. Also since Atlus is now a part of Sega, maybe if we're lucky we might see a Shin Megami Tensei X Shining Force as well considering that there is going to be a Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem. Also a Shining Force X Fire Emblem would be awesome too.
Translation = they are telling atlus to focus on old Sega ips instead of the new ips and projects they had in mind.
As long as atlus main ips are safe and I get a skies of arcaida sequel and shinning force reboot I'll be happy.
Defenders of Oasis 2, maybe detailing the fight of Prince's ancestors against Ahriman and the Serpent King!!!!
Hmm maybe a real Shining Force game this time, not that Neo or Exa tomfoolery.
An Atlus developed Shining Force game NEEDS to happen.
@CaviarMeths Beat me to it....
SKIES OF AAAAARRCAAAADIIIAAAAAA!!!!!
Shining Force and Phantasy Star!
Thor: Beyond Oasis?
Shining Force IV and Panzer Dragoon Saga please
Relaunching Shinobi, Streets of Rage, Ristar and Panzer Dragoon should be on somebody's schedule surely??
Forget just SEGA RPGs, they could also help SEGA with some character development and game planning in SEGA developed games.
Please let them do a new shining force in the style of shining force 3 or even shining the holy ark, both are familiar styles to atlus
SEGA has been very respectful toward ATLUS In allowing them to maintain their identity and creative freedom.
Nintendo should have bought Atlus. I'm not even sure if they offered a bid, but I'm pretty sure they'd be able to outbid Sega. Can you imagine Persona 5 as a Wii U exclusive? Huge lost opportunity.
I would love to have Phantasy Star pretty much rebooted on two fronts... Atlus coming up with a new Phantasy Star RPG series, much akin to the original series and Sega rebooting the Phantasy Star Online series. I would happily play the RPG's on the handheld 3DS and a new PSO could be a killer online game for the wiiU providing it was more like the original Dreamcast... Gamecube era rather than the later blue burst, universe kind of game.
I don't know why anyone thinks P5 as a Wii U exclusive was ever going to happen. Atlus doesn't release Persona games until they've fully figured out the capabilities AND limitations of the hardware. Not to mention that it has likely taken years to develop this game. P5 was never going to be released on the Wii U. P6, maybe. I highly doubt it, but I suppose it is always possible.
That is super cool. All of this.
@Raptor78 Dunno if you heard, but tri-Ace (Valkyrie Profile, Star Ocean, Resonance of Fate) is developing a brand new Phantasy Star for the Vita. It's being described as a single player game that allows you to form teams with local wi-fi.
I hope Atlus takes that chance of working in old Sega franchises. That could have a lot of promise.
I'm glad (so far) that Sega has left Atlus alone. I can tell to as they still seem to be doing business as usual. Problem is I don't want Atlus spread to thin with Sega ips as it could really drag them down! Now if Sega gives them more resources that can help in that area but only time will tell.
At last good to hear,
Realistically there's skies of arcadia, shining force, phantasy star and to an extent panzer dragoon, no other sega rpg franchises spring to mind, i reckon shining force is best suited to atlus
Pretty awesome news. I'd love to see something done with Skies of Arcadia and Phantasy Star series by Atlas as well. Specifically on the 3DS but certainly wouldn't complain if Wii U was involved.
What's said isn't always what happens, but this certainly sounds like good news. Giving Atlus access to old Sega IP could have really cool results too.
thumbsup
@Baum897 Sure, from an Atlus fan standpoint. From a Nintendo fan standpoint, I stand by what I said.
I hate seeing sequels for the sake of it. There's no reason to make a new Skies of Arcadia or Golden Sun, their stories have been told, but a new Shining Force would be perfect.
@Ralizah Also to add to the fact that the Persona series has always been on Sony consoles. So why would Nintendo all of a sudden get a canon exclusive of Persona? It can still come to Nintendo, but it'll never be exclusive.
Just plain awesome.
Golden Sun game wouldn't be for the sake of it. The last game left so many holes that not having a sequel would just be silly.
I would squeal like a schoolgirl if Atlus made a new Skies of Arcadia game.
I always thought Sega made some of the best RPGS, here's hoping a new Valkyria Chronicles, Shining Force and a turn based single player Phantasy Star are made.
Ok, now Sega, you need to give Atlus reigns over Shining Force. I know they could do it justice and it's well over-due. Make this happen.. and let it be on the Wii U.
Golden Sun is made by Camelot, not Atlus or Sega
As long as they know the word 'localization' means.
Good Job SEGA.
A new Shining force or even a remake of shining force 3 would be appreciated not a lot of people got to play that.
ONE WORD - "LOCALIZATION". Sort it out..............
@Drop-Dead-Fred If they'll localize Conception II after Sega bought them, I don't really expect any future lack of titles
Would love Atlus to have a go at Phantasy Star
Sega have never been good at RPGs?
Cough Shining Force. Skies of Arcadia. Sonic Chronicles. Cough
@C-Olimar Missed out the original 4 Phantasy Star games as well. (Not sure shenmue counts).
Radiant Historia is the only Atlus one I really like.
Forgot about Panzer Dragoon Saga.
(Problematic if the people leading Sega don't even understand their own back catalog).
Thank goodness Sega baught them it could have been bad if microcrap had baught them like they did rare.
Does this mean we get a new Skies Of Arcadia???????
Oh thank you thank you thank you!!
I tell you something though if we do get a new one and they don't release on wii u..... someone is gonna cry... ME!
ok, but now I want sega to make exclusive games for wii u through atlus
Alex Kidd and Wonderboy.
@ecco6t9 Do Sega definately have all the rights to do what they want with Wonderboy or does Westone have them (Other than already existing titles) ?
Shining in the Darkness 3d classic, Skies of Arcadia 2 and hopefully a sequel to Phantasy Star Zero. I'm drooling........... I would imagine we will see a shining game at best then just hope for any other like the Phantasy Star Series. The shining series is just ripe for a new release
Sounds like Sega are handling this well. I'm still surprised Nintendo didn't go in for Atlus.
I was under the impression that Atlus was doing well in spite of its parent company's woes. If so, then I'm not surprised Sega picked them up to let them keep doing what they've been doing.
After seeing the Vita, PS3, AND 3DS get love from Atlus Persona-wise, I'm happy Nintendo didn't buy them. Looks like Sega gets Atlus, and the thought of Shining Force, Streets Of Rage, or Altered Beast being resurrected by Atlus is just too much for me to handle.
Well, this went better than expected. Atlus does its own thing but gets a better publisher.
This all sounds great! This could really help Sega and Atlus both, working together but at the same time independently like this. Also glad that their future games should turn out just as usual, and it would be nice to see Atlus reignite Sega's old IPs like was mentioned? Though it seems a tad lazy of them to not do that themselves, but whatever.
Skies of arcadia II by Atlus ?
This is great news, and expected too. Although didn't Sega make Skies of Arcadia and the Phantasy Star series, which were both quite good RPG's?
Atlus doesn't seem like the kind of studio which would go and resurrect all of Sega's forgotten IP's though, as awesome as that would be. If anything, Atlus is better at making their own original stuff, and it might even be a waste for them to be confined to expectations of Sega's games.
@Jollykarp Both Phantasy Star and Skies of arcadia were excellent and were Sega games. The 3 main ones were the Shining series, Phantasy Star and Skies of arcadia. If we see one release of any of these series on 3DS. We will rejoice I'm hoping that Atlus might at least consider converting Shining in the Darkness or Shining the Holy Ark to 3D Both were excellent dungeon Crawlers. I think Shining the Holy Ark was programmed by Camelot who is currently doing Mario Golf 3d
Great. Now buy SEGA, Nintendo.
Not that I want to see the tears of Sony fans when Persona 5 for the PS3 is cancelled and becomes a Wii U exclusive...but I kinda do.
Phantasy Star Online 2 > a Phantasy Star Single Player RPG. In other words, the Phantasy Star franchise is currently thriving, earning Sega a ton of money and in no need of a modern day reboot.
Shin Megami Tensei IV still not in Europe, that would be the first thing that Sega should do with Atlus, release it in Europe already!
@unrandomsam based on what I can gather Sega does own the rights to the character. But not the game mechanics.
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