Atlus now up for auction, 20 companies already making bids

Source

Looks like things are starting to get heated on the war for the acquisition of Atlus. According to a report by Bloomberg Japan about twenty companies including Sega Sammy Holdings made a bid on the studio behind Persona and Catherine.

Executives familiar with the situation reported that some of the bids reached about 20 billion yen (a little south of 201 million dollars) in the primary auction held earlier this week, and that Atlus mother company Index Corporation will choose the candidates before or as early as next week and determine a final buyer by the end of the month. Notably, 20 billion yen are way superior to the initial estimated revenue of 15 billion yen.

In July Index hired the GCA Savvian consulting firm to serve as advisors during the transfer of business ownership. Kazumasa Otsuka-san of the Nijubashi law firm declined to comment or to share details about the actual procedure implemented for the auction. A representative of Sega Sammy Holdings did not offer any comment as well.

Atlus is on sale because Index Corporation filed for Civil Rehabilitation (the Japanese equivalent of a soft Bankruptcy) after finding itself in debt by 24.5 billion yen (almost 246 million dollars). In the meanwhile the studio reassured customers that business will continue as usual and future releases wont be affected.

There is still no word on the possible results of the auction, so all we can do for now is wait and see, while hoping that Atlus will be acquired by a  third party that will guarantee its quality, creativity and independence.

We have reached out to both Atlus and Sega requesting a comment, and well keep you updated if we receive anything relevant.

So the bidding has finally begun. Sega's the only company identified as a bidder currently, but it wouldn't surprise me to see all of the big Japanese companies throwing their money down for them.

The big question is which company do we want to see them go to? Personally, Sega seems like one of the better choices, especially in comparison to Square-Enix or Capcom. Hopefully Sony doesn't get them either, as that would force all their games on one system as well as kill off SMT x FE. Nintendo wouldn't bother me as much, but I doubt they'll actually go for it. Who knows, maybe they'll end up going to some company nobody could have predicted, like Microsoft... er, let's hope not. :P

Thoughts? Comments? Meltdowns/predictions that'll make for hilarious readings about a year from now?

The poll is glitched like everything else on this website.

Nintendo or Sega will be good

Sony, Gung Ho, Marvelous AQL, Namco would be my top candidates.

Nintendo would suck, but they wouldnt make shovelware IOS/Tablet Persona/SMT games.

Square Enix, Sega, Konami, Capcom would either make shovelware Smartphone/tablet games with Atlus IPs or fail to localize them, or both.

sony

Somebody who will leave them the hell alone and just let them do what they've been doing, including letting them use Atlus USA for localization.

Sony pls.

EDIT: Sega wouldn't be so bad either I guess.

Source

Looks like things are starting to get heated on the war for the acquisition of Atlus. According to a report by Bloomberg Japan about twenty companies including Sega Sammy Holdings made a bid on the studio behind Persona and Catherine.

Executives familiar with the situation reported that some of the bids reached about 20 billion yen (a little south of 201 million dollars) in the primary auction held earlier this week, and that Atlus mother company Index Corporation will choose the candidates before or as early as next week and determine a final buyer by the end of the month. Notably, 20 billion yen are way superior to the initial estimated revenue of 15 billion yen.

In July Index hired the GCA Savvian consulting firm to serve as advisors during the transfer of business ownership. Kazumasa Otsuka-san of the Nijubashi law firm declined to comment or to share details about the actual procedure implemented for the auction. A representative of Sega Sammy Holdings did not offer any comment as well.

Atlus is on sale because Index Corporation filed for Civil Rehabilitation (the Japanese equivalent of a soft Bankruptcy) after finding itself in debt by 24.5 billion yen (almost 246 million dollars). In the meanwhile the studio reassured customers that business will continue as usual and future releases wont be affected.

There is still no word on the possible results of the auction, so all we can do for now is wait and see, while hoping that Atlus will be acquired by a  third party that will guarantee its quality, creativity and independence.

We have reached out to both Atlus and Sega requesting a comment, and well keep you updated if we receive anything relevant.1PMrFister

So the bidding has finally begun. Sega's the only company identified as a bidder currently, but it wouldn't surprise me to see all of the big Japanese companies throwing their money down for them.

The big question is which company do we want to see them go to? Personally, Sega seems like one of the better choices, especially in comparison to Square-Enix or Capcom. Hopefully Sony doesn't get them either, as that would force all their games on one system as well as kill off SMT x FE. Nintendo wouldn't bother me as much, but I doubt they'll actually go for it. Who knows, maybe they'll end up going to some company nobody could have predicted, like Microsoft... er, let's hope not. :P

Thoughts? Comments? Meltdowns/predictions that'll make for hilarious readings about a year from now?

EDIT: Ohhhh they are the company behind R.I.P.D a game so bad that i acutally for the first time ever had to write to Steam to demand my money back. So no wonder they are going bankrupt. And what a suprise there are actually buyers for that shitty company.

Who? and why should one even care about them? Never have and probably never will play their games.

EDIT: Ohhhh they are the company behind R.I.P.D a game so bad that i acutally for the first time ever had to write to Steam to demand my money back. So no wonder they are going bankrupt. And what a suprise there are actually buyers for that shitty company.Jacanuk

[QUOTE="Jacanuk"]Who? and why should one even care about them? Never have and probably never will play their games.

EDIT: Ohhhh they are the company behind R.I.P.D a game so bad that i acutally for the first time ever had to write to Steam to demand my money back. So no wonder they are going bankrupt. And what a suprise there are actually buyers for that shitty company.1PMrFister

Sony, Gung Ho, Marvelous AQL, Namco would be my top candidates.

Nintendo would suck, but they wouldnt make shovelware IOS/Tablet Persona/SMT games.

Square Enix, Sega, Konami, Capcom would either make shovelware Smartphone/tablet games with Atlus IPs or fail to localize them, or both.

crimsonman1245

The Tales series would like a word with you.

Somebody who will leave them the hell alone and just let them do what they've been doing, including letting them use Atlus USA for localization.

syztem

A freaking men to that. I really really hope whoever buys them won't end up changing their games for the worst.

We should all pool our money together and go for it guys. I got a twenty in my pocket. <3 Atlus.GodModeEnabled

I like this idea.

I'll be happy if Sega or Sony buys them.

[QUOTE="Jacanuk"]Who? and why should one even care about them? Never have and probably never will play their games.

EDIT: Ohhhh they are the company behind R.I.P.D a game so bad that i acutally for the first time ever had to write to Steam to demand my money back. So no wonder they are going bankrupt. And what a suprise there are actually buyers for that shitty company.1PMrFister

[QUOTE="1PMrFister"][QUOTE="Jacanuk"]Who? and why should one even care about them? Never have and probably never will play their games.

EDIT: Ohhhh they are the company behind R.I.P.D a game so bad that i acutally for the first time ever had to write to Steam to demand my money back. So no wonder they are going bankrupt. And what a suprise there are actually buyers for that shitty company.Jacanuk

They didn't come out with R.I.P.D. they published the game, it was made by Old School Games. People care about them because they love the games they make, there is no denying the quality behind the series Shin Megami Tensei and Persona. Atlus has published a lot of titles, one bad game does not make them a bad company that is in need of better mangement.  

I'll be happy if Sega or Sony buys them.

Ballroompirate

[QUOTE="Jacanuk"][QUOTE="1PMrFister"] Might wanna do some more research before you mouth off like this. Atlus is the developer of the Shin Megami Tensei series and publisher of the Disgaea series, both of which do well critically and commercially. They're also responsible for several other noteworthy games released this generation such as the Trauma Center series, Catherine, and Demon's Souls (developed by From Software, but still published by them). Also, their parent company is the one that's going bankrupt and auctioning them off. Atlus itself is a profitable company, which is why so many other companies probably want them so bad.

GT90

They didn't come out with R.I.P.D. they published the game, it was made by Old School Games. People care about them because they love the games they make, there is no denying the quality behind the series Shin Megami Tensei and Persona. Atlus has published a lot of titles, one bad game does not make them a bad company that is in need of better mangement.  

Somebody who will leave them the hell alone and just let them do what they've been doing, including letting them use Atlus USA for localization.

Ok, lets use your argument EA only publish the games people dont like. But besides that wtf is Persona and Shin Megami Tensei? and if its because they only come out on 3ds then it explains it alot, its the only handheld i refuse to buy.Jacanuk

Also, the SMT series has been around since the SNES days, though it didn't start getting localized until around the PS2 era. Persona is a spin-off series that has made appearances on PS2, Vita, and 360. They're also planning a crossover game with Nintendo's Fire Emblem series on Wii U. Seriously man, do your homework before you mouth off. You're only embarrassing yourself.

[QUOTE="GodModeEnabled"]We should all pool our money together and go for it guys. I got a twenty in my pocket.

<3 Atlus.Allicrombie

[QUOTE="crimsonman1245"]

Sony, Gung Ho, Marvelous AQL, Namco would be my top candidates.

Nintendo would suck, but they wouldnt make shovelware IOS/Tablet Persona/SMT games.

Square Enix, Sega, Konami, Capcom would either make shovelware Smartphone/tablet games with Atlus IPs or fail to localize them, or both.

rolfboy

The Tales series would like a word with you.

Or are you implying that if namco buys them there may be more difficulty with getting their games localized, like the Tales series? If that is the case, I kinda agree. I'm not sure if I want Namco to buy them. I'd say Nintendo would be good one.

Sony would be the best choice.

Sony has the hardware like the ps3, ps4 and vita they have all the bases covered for atlus games, the SOE has any kind of PC related games covered as well. They can do retail or digital easily enough for any of their games. They are a japanese based comany like atlus but they also have a strong worldwide presence like atlus.

Sony also has a long history with atlus and has always been the company with the most atlus exclusives. Nintendo with the ds line of handhelds is a extremely close second but atlus and sony have always been together the most and it works quite well considering (especially lately) how open sony has been to big companies, small companies, big games, and little indie games.

as long as its not sega, terrible track records as of late when it comes to localization. I feam atlus will start sharing the same fate if sega gets their mitts on them

There are better third party options than Sega.

Sony seems like the best choice.

I'd rather Sega didn't have anything to do with it, unless they get their act together and start localising their games again.

So how do we feel about Namco-Bandai taking control of them? They always seem to be left out of these discussions.Articuno76

what would happen to muh persona?iDefinition

I just thought of something.

If Nintendo buys them, could that have any effect on the games they have on PSN? Do you think they would be removed from the shop or would they stay?

I was thinking Nintendo might make a good buyer imo, but it would kinda suck to have all their games removed from PSN, especially for people who bought some, and will no longer be able to redownload them.

[QUOTE="SupremeAC"]I didn't think of Marvelous, but they'd make a good buyer. I don't see Sony, MS or Nintendo buying them really. Their games don't make a big enough of a splash in the console wars, eventhough they have a lot of quality franchises. I'm hoping for some investment group who'll leave Atlus be. Sega or Square wouldn't sit well with me. Capcom, I could see working out.DarkCatalyst

That would suck. I really, really like Atlus, but I could learn to live without them. Better that than pay $350 for a Wii U.

I just thought of something.

If Nintendo buys them, could that have any effect on the games they have on PSN? Do you think they would be removed from the shop or would they stay?

I was thinking Nintendo might make a good buyer imo, but it would kinda suck to have all their games removed from PSN, especially for people who bought some, and will no longer be able to redownload them.

Bongardo

[QUOTE="Bongardo"]

I just thought of something.

If Nintendo buys them, could that have any effect on the games they have on PSN? Do you think they would be removed from the shop or would they stay?

I was thinking Nintendo might make a good buyer imo, but it would kinda suck to have all their games removed from PSN, especially for people who bought some, and will no longer be able to redownload them.

1PMrFister

Yeah that would suck. I knew they would stop printing physical copies and FE X SMT would be cancelled if Nintendo a first party besides Nintedno doesn buy them. But untill now I never thought about the digital copies being pulled. I kinda hope a first party doesn't buy them now too. Though I am not really sure who i want to buy them. Just somebody who doesn't change what they are doing too much I guess.

i am hoping it stays third party.