Atlus Co., Ltd. (株式会社アトラス, Kabushikigaisha Atorasu) is a Japanese video game developer, publisher, arcade manufacturer and distribution company based in Tokyo.
A subsidiary of Sega, the company is known for the Megami Tensei, Persona, Etrian Odyssey, and Trauma Center series.
The company is also known for their Print Club arcade machines, which are selfie 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.
[2] Prior to this, earlier Atlus video games were published by other companies, such as Namco and Hudson Soft in Japan and LJN in North America.
[6] Atlus and Sega introduced Purikura in February 1995, initially at game 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 across East 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.
In its goal to further increase its presence in the amusement industry, Atlus acquired the manufacturer Apies from Yubis Corporation in 1999.
In its restructuring efforts, Atlus sold two subsidiaries (one of them being Apies) to their respective employees as part of a management buyout.
[12] In 2004, after the release of Growlanser IV, the majority of Career Soft's staff was merged into the main development team of Atlus where they worked on the Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor games.
[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.
In June 2013, it was reported that Index Corporation filed for civil rehabilitation proceedings, facing bankruptcy with debts of ¥24.5 billion.
Atlus West has localized cult classic Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, created by Nippon Ichi Software.
[40] On 31 March 2013, Index Digital Media's Atlus Online Division was purchased by Marvelous AQL and transferred to Xseed Games.
[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 the Shin Megami Tensei franchise, is the company mascot.