Atlus CEO gives acquisition by SEGA his blessing
Hiraoka sees partnership as "mutually beneficial"
Naoto Hiraoka, CEO of Atlus, has issued a statement which explains and supports the recent acquisition of the company by SEGA, thanking fans for their support at a difficult time.
"Dear fans and customers," Hiraoka writes.
"I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for your support of Atlus products.
"As announced Tuesday through various news channels, we are going to continue with our business operations as part of Sega Sammy Holdings effective November 1, 2013.
"As you may already know, Index Corporation filed for Civil Rehabilitation Proceedings in Japan on June 27 and since then, has been searching for a solution which would allow us to continue our business of making great games.
"Atlus has consistently received support and praise from our faithful and our respected customers, and made great progress in recent years. So the recent incident must have surprised and worried all of you dearly. For that, I would like to express my deepest apologies.
"We have nurtured a great relationship with Sega Inc. for a long time, especially concerning our consumer games business in Japan. I believe the collaboration between the two companies at this time will be mutually beneficial for the following reasons:
"Sega understands our drive to achieve quality and to expand awareness of the Atlus brand. Our respective strengths in game development complement each other well.
"We are extremely happy to be able to continue with our business, and be able to report this good news to our fans and customers. Again, we would like to express our gratitude to everyone who has supported us.
"Currently, we at the Consumer Software Division in Japan are focusing on developing future titles, and are willing to take on new challenges to further achieve growth and success.
"Please stay tuned for future updates, Naoto Hiraoka, President and CEO"
SEGA were the winning bidders for Atlus after its parent company Index filed for the Japanese equivalent of bankruptcy last week. The cost of the acquisition has not been made explicitly public, but the Nikkei has estimated it to be around ¥14 billion.