Skip to main content

‘Persona’ publisher Atlus in danger as parent company nears bankruptcy

Dragons Crown
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Index,  the parent company of noted Japanese role-playing game publisher Atlus, is careening toward bankruptcy and due for restructuring under Japan’s Civil Rehabilitation Law, a press release confirms (via NeoGAF). The announcement is written in Japanese, but a GAF poster’s summation points out that “the game division is clearly the most desirable and functional part of Index’s business, and that’s one area they plan on expanding on specifically.” The next step for Index involves finding “a sponsor as soon as possible to conduct a business transfer before the situation further damages the value of this core business.”

Another poster in the same GAF thread offers an explanation of Japan’s Civil Rehabilitation Law, designed to help struggling debtors work toward recovery. Index will continue to conduct business, with the aforementioned sponsor(s) coming in to assist the existing management. It is possible that the company will fold at some point, and that its assets will be liquidated, but that point has not yet been reached.

Recommended Videos

To put it more simply: Atlus may eventually be sold off, but that isn’t happening yet, or even soon.

There is a possible hitch, however. As Crunchyroll pointed out earlier in June, Index is the subject of an investigation by the Japanese Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission. The regulatory body suspects the company of having engaged in fraudulent business practices aimed at giving industry partners the impression that all is well and stable. This allegedly includes the inflating of mobile and video game sales numbers.

Atlus is best known in the United States for its many JRPGs, including the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series’. The publisher also put out From Software’s notoriously challenging action-RPG, Demon’s Souls, though Namco Bandai stepped in to publish the follow-up, Dark Souls (and its upcoming sequel). Dragon’s Crown is the next big release for Atlus, a 2D action-RPG that heads to PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita on July 25 and August 6, for Japan and U.S. audiences, respectively.

Adam Rosenberg
Former Gaming/Movies Editor
Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…
The best Zelda dungeons, ranked
Link and Zelda under Hyrule Castle in "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom."

There are a lot of metrics I could use to rank the best Zelda games. I could talk about the best Zelda bosses, the worlds, items, and more, but I believe the dungeons are the biggest individual factor in deciding how each game stacks up to the others. These are the meat of every Zelda game. All the combat and puzzle solving happens here, and the excitement of exploring each one is what pushes us to want to explore these worlds. The boss is the icing on the cake, but a good dungeon can be the highlight of the entire game. Looking back at all Zelda games, I have made some tough calls to bring you a list of the best Zelda dungeons, ranked.

#10 Eagle's Tower - Link's Awakening

Read more
We need to start having real conversations about AI in gaming
Copilot Quake II game.

AI has become a dirty word across almost every discipline over the past few years. As big corporations keep pushing this technology forward, a vocal resistance among creatives, critics, and passionate communities has risen up in opposition. While every creative medium is at risk of AI influence now, gamers are particularly sensitive about this technology sucking the creativity and human element from our beloved medium. Even the mere mention of AI being used in game development triggers a massive backlash, but we need to start being more nuanced in how we talk about the ways AI should and should not be used. Because, like it or not, AI is going to become more ubiquitous in gaming. We can't keep talking about AI as though it is a black-and-white thing. It is a tool, and like any tool, there are ways it can be used appropriately.

The question we need to ask ourselves now is, when is it ethical to use and what crosses the line?

Read more
Mecha Break is the closest I’ve felt to piloting a real Gundam outside Japan
Key art for Mecha Break.

In 2015, in a mostly-empty arcade in Fukuoka, I slid into the pilot seat of a Gundam.

I pulled the door down, watching as it seamlessly merged with the rest of the wall and turned into a display of my surroundings. As I pulled the earpiece down, the radio crackled to life as other pilots greeted me through comms.

Read more