Atlus Establishes European Publishing Team In London

It has been a tumultuous year for Atlus in Europe, with the famed developer having no consistent publisher to release titles in the region since it cut ties with NIS America in early 2016. However, it seems that the worst is behind it (for now), as Atlus has announced it has decided to do what it likely should have done in the first place: establish an Atlus Europe branch and distribute its own games there.

This move is part of the company’s acquisition by Sega and the process is already underway, with commercial director Simon Inch as the team’s head. In due time, he will be joined by a PR manager and a product marketing manager, and all three will operate out of Sega Europe’s offices in London.

As stated before, this is a huge departure for Atlus compared to what it has been doing for a little over a year. Prior to its purchase by Sega, the developer typically relied on NIS America to publish its games in European regions. However, the relationship between the two fell apart in early 2016 and it left the fate of various Atlus titles, such as Persona 5 and Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, in question. It seemed that at one point Sega Europe would be the ones to step up and publish Atlus’ games there, but in the end it was Deep Silver who bore much of that responsibility up until now.

Though Deep Silver seems to still be involved with Sega in some fashion, the relationship between it and Atlus is over, as the latter opts to publish its own games in Europe.

By doing creating an Atlus Europe team, the company says that not only will it be able to have better contact with its audience there, but also be able to offer them the same special edition sets and products that they currently offer in North America and other markets.

“It is a strong example of the growth we are experiencing as a company,” said Jacob Nahin, senior PR manager at Atlus U.S.A. “Publishing in Europe is simply the next step for us. What this means initially for fans is a parity for launch and premium editions. From a business perspective, we’ll be better positioned to address the needs of each market in which we release our titles.”