Naoto Hiraoka, the head of consumer software for the Atlus game brand, issued a statement on Wednesday to assure fans that business will continue as before. Sega Sammy Holdings confirmed earlier in the day that Sega will form a wholly owned subsidiary to take over the operations of Index Corporation by November 1. Index owns and manages Atlus, a former independent company and the current brand of games such as Etrian Odyssey, Shin Megami Tensei, and Persona.
Hiraoka acknowledged that the Atlus brand will become part of the Sega Sammy Group (specifically, the new subsidiary Sega Dream), but added that the entire consumer game unit will remain focused on developing titles for future release. He said that his brand has maintained a good relationship with Sega from before, and added that he thinks the current potential for business synergy is very high. He specifically highlighted Sega's strong distribution network as beneficial going forward.
He apologized for causing fans to worry, asked for their continued support, and asked them to look forward to further developments from Atlus.
Since last year, Hiraoka has also been the president and CEO of Atlus U.S.A., Inc. in North America.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-09-18/atlus-games-hiraoka/business-to-continue-as-before
Here's the full statement from Hiraoka.
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