Where's the source. I'm looking at the news sites and there's no indication of bankruptcy or assets. The main site doesn't mention it: http://indexweb.jp/ Just financials.
Index, the parent company, posted a total loss of 2.263 billion yen ($27 million). Atlu's games reached 5.65 billion yen ($58 million) in revenue. But now Index has 1.435 billion yen ($14.75 million) of debt. Source: http://www.siliconera.com/2013/04/15/atluss-parent-company-index-holdings-is-in-debt/
It's not surprising really, they don't have many well known franchises attached to them, Persona is the only on going one that i'm aware of and with the region locking that was attached to the most recent game plus the ridiculously long gaps in release dates between regions people just stop giving a shit and move on to other games. They're also fairly invested in the 3DS and we all know how badly that's going.
Atlus will be fine it seems, but Index? I'm not so sure as it is a holding company with interests in a variety of fields. If an American company owned Atlus, it would be doomed since the investors in charge would probably pillage the company for their own personal gain and then blame the employees if the company fails.
Kev when you post stuff like this can you please post sources rather than your own interpretation, hard to follow without sources
http://kotaku.com/atlus-parent-company-is-under-investigation-for-shady-512844420 Parent company Index is under investigation for dodgy bookkeeping and violating Japanese financial laws. Atlus is just a brand name in Japan, as the company doesn't even show up on the stock market.
http://kotaku.com/is-atlus-alright-this-is-sure-worrying-595254819 Now Index, the owner of the Atlus brand, is filing bankruptcy proceedings.
Atlus now may be liquidated or bought by another company. Sad stuff for one of the best companies at localizing games out of Japan and actually caring about their US/UK fans.
You mean like how it took six months after the US release to bring Persona 3 to Europe, by which time FES was almost out in the US and wouldn't be released in Europe for another eight months, or how it took them an extra three months after the US release for them to release Persona 4 Arena in Europe (not that it really matters since P4A sucks)?
I think alot of Japanese publishers cater only to the japanese market with foreign markets as an afterthought if they even release their games outside Japan. Atlus at least releases their titles outside japan and always gives some kind of idea of when and if a game will be launched. Square is the worst offender in my opinion. Besides their Enix division and numbered Final Fantasy/Kingdom Hearts entries, the foreign markets almost don't exist for them.
