.svg){kind=logo} | |
 Headquarters in Tokyo | |
Native name | 株式会社アトラス |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Kabushiki gaisha Atorasu |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded |
|
| Defunct | 1 October 2010; 14 years ago (2010-10-01) (as Atlus Co., Ltd.) |
| Headquarters | Nishi-Shinagawa,, Japan |
Key people |
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| Products | List of Atlus games |
Number of employees | 371[1] (April 2024) |
| Parent | Sega (2013–present) |
| Divisions |
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| Website | atlus.co.jp |
Atlus Co., Ltd. (株式会社アトラス,Kabushikigaisha Atorasu) is a Japanesevideo game developer,publisher,arcade manufacturer and distribution company based inTokyo. A subsidiary ofSega, the company is known for theMegami Tensei,Persona,Etrian Odyssey, andTrauma Center series. Its corporatemascot is Jack Frost, a snowman-like character from theirMegami Tensei series. The company is also known for theirPrint Club arcade machines, which areselfie 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 intoIndex 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.
Atlus began on 7 April 1986 as avideo game developer of computer games for other companies.[2] In January 1987, Atlus started selling amusement equipment.[2] It expanded into the sale ofkaraoke equipment in March 1989.[2] Atlus released the first video game under its own name in 1989:Puzzle Boy for theGame Boy.[2] Prior to this, earlier Atlus video games were published by other companies, such asNamco andHudson Soft in Japan andLJN in North America.
Atlus started in thearcade industry in the 1990s by manufacturing its firstarcade video game,BlaZeon, in 1992. In 1995, Atlus launchedPrint Club (purikura) at arcades in partnership withSega.[3] It is a photo sticker booth that producesselfie photos.[4][5] 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.[6] Atlus and Sega introducedPurikura in February 1995, initially atgame arcades, before expanding to other popular culture locations such as fast food shops, train stations,karaoke establishments and bowling alleys.[7]Purikura became a popular form of entertainment among youths acrossEast Asia, laying the foundations for modern selfie culture.[4][5] It also introduced a large female demographic to the company's previously male-dominated arcade customer base.[8] By 1996, it accounted for 70% of the company's revenue.[5] By 1997, about 47,000Purikura machines had been sold, earning Sega an estimated¥25 billion (£173 million) or$283,000,000 (equivalent to $554,000,000 in 2024) annually fromPurikura sales that year. Various other similarpurikura machines appeared from other manufacturers, with Sega controlling about half of the market in 1997.[9]Print Club went on to generate over$1 billion in sales for Atlus and Sega.[10]
Atlus entered the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1997, listing on theJASDAQ. In its goal to further increase its presence in the amusement industry, Atlus acquired the manufacturerApies from Yubis Corporation in 1999. In 2000, Atlus formed a joint venture withKadokawa 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 amanagement buyout.[11]
In October 2001, Atlus acquiredCareer Soft, and became the sole publisher of theGrowlanser series: areal-time strategyrole-playing game from the creators of theLangrisser series.[12] In 2004, after the release ofGrowlanser IV, the majority of Career Soft's staff was merged into the main development team of Atlus where they worked on theShin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor games. As a developer brand, Career Soft was eventually dissolved.
In October 2003, Japanese toy companyTakara acquired Atlus.[13] Takara's video game business was also transferred over to Atlus.[14] 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.[15]
In March 2009, Atlus andSting Entertainment announced a publishing partnership making Atlus the only publisher of Sting-developed games in Japan.[16] On 17 September 2009, Index Holdings announced the separation of Atlus' amusement facility and related business into a subsidiary, New Entertainment Waves,[17] effective on 1 December. One hundred seventy-two shares of the subsidiary's stock were also transferred to Chushoukigyou Leisure[18] on 1 December.[19]
On 30 August 2010, Index Holdings announced its merger with Atlus, with Index Holdings being the surviving company, effective on 1 October.[20][21] After the merger, Index Holdings would continue to operate the Atlus brand.[22] 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."[23] On 9 November 2010 Index Holdings announced its renaming toIndex Corporation, to be confirmed at the shareholders meeting on 25 November 2010 and effective on 1 December.[24][25]
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.[26]
On 18 September 2013, it was reported thatSega won a bid to acquire the bankrupt Index for ¥14 billion.[27] 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).[28] That day, Sega announced that it would change the name of Sega Dream Corporation to Index Corporation.[29]
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.[30]
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 theTokyo metropolitan area toShinagawa-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.[31]
Atlus currently has three internal development divisions inside the company responsible for the development of its titles:
Atlus West (formerly known as Atlus U.S.A., Inc.) established in 1991 and based inIrvine, 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 ofMegami Tensei games have not been released in North America. During the 1990s,Jack Bros. forVirtual Boy,Revelations: Persona for PlayStation andRevelations: The Demon Slayer for theGame Boy Color were the first three games in the series to have a North American release. The 2004 release ofShin Megami Tensei: Nocturne was the first main-series video-game release in the U.S.[37] Since then, the series has continued to be localized and released in the US, including games such asPersona 3,Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army, andShin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey.
Atlus West has localizedcult classicDisgaea: Hour of Darkness, created byNippon Ichi Software.[38] The company have also published thetactical role-playing gameTactics Ogre and Game Boy Advance remakes of theKunio-kun andDouble Dragon games for Million (a company composed of formerTechnōs Japan employees). Other notable titles includeSnowboard Kids andSnowboard Kids 2 (forNintendo 64) andOdin Sphere and theTrauma Center series. Atlus USA releasedRiviera: The Promised Land, a role-playing video game for theGame Boy Advance previously released for theWonderswan Color, in 2004 in collaboration withSting andBandai. In 2006 Atlus USA and Sting releasedYggdra Union, a strategy role-playing game (RPG) for theGame Boy Advance.[39] After Working Designs' publication ofGrowlanser Generations, they releasedGrowlanser: Heritage of War in 2005 andGrowlanser Wayfarer of Time in 2012.
The company established an online division, including the Atlus Online portal which is servicingNeo Steam: The Shattered Continent andShin Megami Tensei: Imagine.[40] On 31 March 2013, Index Digital Media's Atlus Online Division was purchased byMarvelous AQL and transferred toXseed Games.[41] Atlus USA has published games under theMarl Kingdom name, beginning withRhapsody: A Musical Adventure in 2000.[38] On 18 February 2014 Sega announced that Index Digital Media would revert its name back to Atlus USA.[30] In March 2016, Sega announced that all the future localized products from Atlus for North America will be published by Sega.[42][43] Between 2019 and 2020, Atlus USA changed its public brand name to Atlus West.[44][45][46]
Until 2017, Atlus did not have a dedicated European division for publishing and distributing their titles within the European andOceania region. Instead, many of Atlus' titles were published in these regions byNippon Ichi Software (NIS) and its American division NIS America. Following Atlus's acquisition by Sega Sammy Holdings, NIS found that it became more difficult to work between Sega and Atlus for distribution and in April 2016, formally ended its distribution partnership with Atlus.[47] In July 2016,Deep Silver announced that it had come to agreement to become Atlus' distributor for Europe and Oceania, and would begin to publish titles in both retail and digital form.[48] In August 2017, Atlus announced that they had opened a European distribution team located in Sega Europe's offices in London that would publish all its games going forward.[49]
Jack Frost, who appears as a demon character in theShin Megami Tensei franchise, is the companymascot.[40] Resembling asnowman, he has teeth, a tail and no nose, and wears ajester hat, collar, and shoes. His catchphrase is "Hee-Ho". He has appeared in several games in theShin Megami Tensei series, as well as theJack Bros. andPersona games. Jack Frost is ahidden character in theNorth American and Japanese versions ofSBK: Snowboard Kids, with a larger role in the Japanese version. He has a family; more relatives were created sinceShin Megami Tensei II, including King Frost, Jack-O-Lantern (Known as "Pyro Jack" in some localizations), Frost 5 Senshi, and Black Frost.
Purikura, clipped from purinto kurabu, was invented by Atlus, a Tokyo-based game software company. A female employee named Sasaki Miho had noticed the popularity of stickers among schoolgirls, a craze that also generated huge sales. In 1994, Sasaki came up with the idea of combining stickers with photos and proposed it to her Atlus employers, but her male bosses did not think it worth pursuing until 1995, when they finally gave her concept a chance.
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