Atlus Co., Ltd.[2] (株式会社アトラス) is a Japanese video game developer, publisher, arcade manufacturer and distribution company based in Tokyo. A subsidiary of Sega, the company is known for the Megami Tensei, Persona, Etrian Odyssey, and Trauma Center series. Its corporate mascot is Jack Frost, a snowman-like character from its Megami Tensei series. The company is also known for its Print Club arcade machines, which are selfie photo sticker booths in East Asia.
Atlus was established in April 1986 and spent its early years as a video game developer for other companies. It became a video game publisher of its own in 1989 and existed until it was merged into Index Corporation in October 2010. The Atlus name continued as a brand used by Index Corporation for video game publishing until it filed for bankruptcy in June 2013. This company was then acquired by Sega via its new subsidiary Sega Dream Corporation which renamed itself Index Corporation in November 2013. In April 2014, the non-video game assets and the Index name were spun off as a separate subsidiary of Sega, leaving the company with its video game division to be officially renamed Atlus.
A North American branch of the company, originally Atlus USA and now Atlus West, was founded in 1991 in order to focus on publishing and localizing games for North America. A European branch, handled via the London-based Sega Europe, was founded in 2017.
History
Atlus began on 7 April 1986 as a video game developer of computer games for other companies.[3] In January 1987, Atlus started selling amusement equipment.[3] It expanded into the sale of karaoke equipment in March 1989.[3] Atlus released the first video game under its own name in 1989: Puzzle Boy for the Game Boy.[3] Prior to this, earlier Atlus video games were published by other companies, such as Namco and Hudson Soft in Japan and LJN in North America.
Atlus started in the arcade industry in the 1990s by manufacturing its first arcade video game, BlaZeon, in 1992. In 1995, Atlus launched Print Club (purikura) at arcades in partnership with Sega.[4] It is a photo sticker booth that produces selfie photos.[5][6] It was conceived by Atlus employee Sasaki Miho in 1994; her bosses at Atlus were initially reluctant about the idea, before later deciding to go ahead with it.[7] Atlus and Sega introduced Purikura in February 1995, initially at game arcades, before expanding to other popular culture locations such as fast food shops, train stations, karaoke establishments and bowling alleys.[8] Purikura became a popular form of entertainment among youths across East Asia, laying the foundations for modern selfie culture.[5]
Atlus entered the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1997, listing on the JASDAQ. In its goal to further increase its presence in the amusement industry, Atlus acquired the manufacturer Apies from Yubis Corporation in 1999. In 2000, Atlus formed a joint venture with Kadokawa Shoten to distribute and sell games. Atlus suffered from deficit financial results in both 1999 and 2000. To address the issue, Atlus established a management reform plan in 2001. In its restructuring efforts, Atlus sold two subsidiaries (one of them being Apies) to their respective employees as part of a management buyout.[12]
In October 2001, Atlus acquired Career Soft, and became the sole publisher of the Growlanser series: a real-time strategy role-playing game from the creators of the Langrisser series.[13] In 2004, after the release of Growlanser IV, the majority of Career Soft's staff was merged into the main development team of Atlus where they worked on the Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor games. As a developer brand, Career Soft was eventually dissolved.
In October 2003, Japanese toy company Takara acquired Atlus.[14] Takara's video game business was also transferred over to Atlus.[15] On 21 November 2006, Index Holdings announced the acquisition of Atlus, effective on 30 October 2006, and purchased 7.7 million shares (54.93 percent; 77,000 votes, or 54.96 percent of the voting rights) on 20 November 2006. Atlus became an Index Holdings subsidiary on 29 November 2006.[16]
In March 2009, Atlus and Sting Entertainment announced a publishing partnership making Atlus the only publisher of Sting-developed games in Japan.[17] On 17 September 2009, Index Holdings announced the separation of Atlus' amusement facility and related business into a subsidiary, New Entertainment Waves,[18] effective on 1 December. One hundred seventy-two shares of the subsidiary's stock were also transferred to Chushoukigyou Leisure[19] on 1 December.[20]
On 30 August 2010, Index Holdings announced its merger with Atlus, with Index Holdings being the surviving company, effective on 1 October.[21][22] After the merger, Index Holdings would continue to operate the Atlus brand.[23] Although fans were concerned about the company's future, CEO Shinichi Suzuki said that Atlus would continue to provide the "finest quality game experiences possible" and the merger "further strengthens the foundation of Atlus, both in Japan and here in the United States."[24] On 9 November 2010 Index Holdings announced its renaming to Index Corporation, to be confirmed at the shareholders meeting on 25 November 2010 and effective on 1 December.[25][26]
From 2010 to 2013, Atlus, as a company, ceased to exist and its name became a brand of Index Corporation for video games in Japan. However, Atlus USA remained active and was renamed Index Digital Media, serving as the North American subsidiary for Index Corporation. Much like in Japan, video games continued to be released in that region under the Atlus name during this period. In June 2013, it was reported that Index Corporation filed for civil rehabilitation proceedings, facing bankruptcy with debts of ¥24.5 billion. An Atlus USA spokesperson said that Index Digital Media and the Atlus brand were unaffected by the proceedings.[27]
On 18 September 2013, it was reported that Sega won a bid to acquire the bankrupt Index for ¥14 billion.[28] All Index operations, including the Atlus brand and Index Digital Media (Atlus USA), were transferred on 1 November 2013 to Sega Dream Corporation (a new subsidiary established on 5 September 2013).[29] That day, Sega announced that it would change the name of Sega Dream Corporation to Index Corporation.[30]
On 18 February 2014, Sega announced the separation of Index Corporation's contents and solution businesses into a new subsidiary, Index Corporation, renaming the old Index Corporation and its remaining digital game business division to Atlus effective 1 April 2014. The new Atlus would include the foreign subsidiary, Index Digital Media, which would revert its name back to Atlus USA at the establishment of the new Atlus.[31]
In April 2017, Sega Sammy Holdings announced a relocation of head office functions of the Sega Sammy Group and its major domestic subsidiaries located in the Tokyo metropolitan area to Shinagawa-ku by January 2018. Their stated reasoning was to promote cooperation among companies and creation of more active interaction of personnel, while pursuing efficient group management by consolidating scattered head office functions of the group. Atlus is one of the companies that has relocated in response to this.[32]
Development organization
Atlus currently has three internal development divisions inside the company responsible for the development of its titles:
- Creative Department 1st Production (Team Maniax): Headed by Shinjiro Takata as a production manager, this is the oldest and original production team, which has been active since the very beginning of the company. This is the group responsible for the development of the Megami Tensei series in general from mainline titles such as Shin Megami Tensei to spin-offs such as Devil Children series, Persona series prior to Persona 3, Devil Summoner series, Last Bible series, Majin Tensei series, Digital Devil Saga series, Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE among many others. Outside of the Megami Tensei series, the group also created and developed the Trauma Center series and the Etrian Odyssey series.[33][34]
- Creative Department 2nd Production (P-Studio): Headed by Kazuhisa Wada, this group was established by Atlus during the development of Persona 3 in 2006, to coexist with the Creative Department 1st Production also known as Team Maniax, who were primarily responsible for developing entries in the Megami Tensei series at the company. The 2nd Production division would instead become the primary in charge of developing and overseeing all games and other products related to the Persona series, after all previous entries in the series on the original PlayStation had been mainly developed by Team Maniax. Leading the new Persona development team would be
International branches
Atlus West
Atlus West (formerly known as Atlus U.S.A., Inc.) established in 1991 and based in Irvine, California, is the American subsidiary of Atlus and publishes games created by Atlus and other developers. It was formally called Index Digital Media from 2010 to 2014 in response to Atlus being dissolved into Index Corporation.
A number of Megami Tensei games have not been released in North America. During the 1990s, Jack Bros. for Virtual Boy, Revelations: Persona for PlayStation and Revelations: The Demon Slayer for the Game Boy Color were the first three games in the series to have a North American release. The 2004 release of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne was the first main-series video-game release in the U.S.[38] Since then, the series has continued to be localized and released in the US, including games such as Persona 3, Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army, and Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey.
Atlus West has localized cult classic Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, created by Nippon Ichi Software
Corporate mascot
Jack Frost, who appears as a demon character in the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, is the company mascot.[50] Resembling a snowman, he has teeth, a tail and no nose, and wears a jester hat, collar, and shoes. His catchphrase is "Hee-Ho". He has appeared in several games in the Shin Megami Tensei series, as well as the Jack Bros. and Persona games. Jack Frost is a hidden character in the North American and Japanese versions of SBK: Snowboard Kids, with a larger role in the Japanese version. He has a family; more relatives were created since Shin Megami Tensei II, including King Frost, Jack-O-Lantern (known as "Pyro Jack" in some localizations), Frost 5 Senshi, and Black Frost.
Animation based on Atlus games
- Shin Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku
- Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner (TV Series)
- Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children
- Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children 2 Light & Dark
- Devil Survivor 2: The Animation
- Persona: Trinity Soul
- Persona 4: The Animation
- Persona 4: The Golden Animation
- Persona 3 The Movie: #1 Spring of Birth
- Persona 3 The Movie: #2 Midsummer Knight's Dream
- Persona 3 The Movie: #3 Falling Down