History Creator / Atlus

The American branch of Atlus, Atlus West (formerly Atlus USA and Index Digital Media), is notable for being a publisher and localizer for both Atlus games and non-Atlus third-party games; they have localized and/or published in North America games from smaller Japanese studios like Creator/NipponIchi (whose US subsidiary NIS America had a strong relationship with Atlus USA) or Creator/SpikeChunsoft.

Outside of arcade and computer games, Atlus Japan is also notable for being the co-creator (with Creator/{{Sega}}) of "Print Club", one of the most popular photo booth machines in Japan. It's a staple of Japanese arcades and a driving force behind the mainstream ''kawaii'' and selfie culture.

In 2013, Index went bankrupt and was acquired by Creator/{{Sega}}. Sega would split Index's non-gaming businesses and rename Index's gaming division back into Atlus, effectively reestablishing the company as a Sega subsidiary the following year. In 2015, Sega would sell Index to Sawada Holdings (now known as Excite Japan) and the company is now known as IXIT Corporation.

In 2013, Index went bankrupt and was acquired by Creator/{{Sega}}. Sega would sell Index's non-gaming businesses and rename Index's gaming division back into Atlus, effectively reestablishing the company as a Sega subsidiary.

The American branch of Atlus, Atlus West (formerly Atlus USA and Index Digital Media), is notable for being a publisher and localizer for both Atlus games and non-Atlus third-party games; they have localized and/or published in North America games from smaller Japanese studios like Creator/NipponIchi (whose US subsidiary NIS America has a strong relationship with Atlus USA) or Creator/SpikeChunsoft.

Outside of arcade and computer games, Atlus Japan is also notable for being the co-creator (with Creator/{{Sega}}) of "Print Club", one of the most popular photo booth machine in the world, a staple of Japanese arcades and a driving force behind the mainstream ''kawaii'' and selfie culture.

[[https://atlus.com Atlus]] is a Japanese video game developer, publisher and distributor based in Tokyo, founded on April 7, 1986 and a subsidiary of Creator/{{Sega}} since 2013. While not necessarily having the name-recognition of some larger companies, they have a huge number of quality products, both as a developer and a publisher, and often both at once. The Japanese HQ portion of the company is both a publisher (since 1989) and developer, the North American branch serves as a publisher and localization company that publishes more games than just what its parent company Index Corporation develops and publishes; in the list of games below said games are listed with Atlus being the North American publisher. Atlus is probably most notable for developing and publishing the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' and ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' games.

Many of their internally developed 21st-century games are [[NintendoHard really freaking]] ''[[NintendoHard HARD]]''.[[note]]Games published by Atlus USA but not developed by its parent company may not have this trait[[/note]] Though good design means they usually avoid FakeDifficulty. Their American branch is also famous for the translation of their games: {{Woolseyism}} and SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing abound in games they publish. Atlus is also famous for first exposing North America to Creator/NipponIchi Software, having published ''VideoGame/RhapsodyAMusicalAdventure'' back in the Platform/PlayStation 1 era, and later ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'' game for Platform/PlayStation2. This led to NIS eventually branching out on their own, and to this day the companies share many staff amongst their translation and dubbing teams, as well as an amicable business relationship. In fact, NIS America is responsible for publishing ''Anime/PersonaTrinitySoul'', the anime based on the Atlus game.

Currently holds the dubious title of "[[ThatOneBoss/{{Atlus}} That One Company]]", due to their joy at [[ColdBloodedTorture making gamers suffer.]] And we [[TooKinkyToTorture like it]], dammit. Funnily enough, even some games they merely published and not developed can be NintendoHard, like ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' and the ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' games.

Also note the number of {{Quirky Work}}s below.

Atlus Japan is co-creator (with Creator/{{Sega}}) of "Print Club".

In 2003, Atlus was sold to Takara but in 2006 was sold again to mobile giant Index Holdings. In 2010, Atlus was officially disestablished and absorbed with Index Holdings and renamed itself to Index Corporation. The Atlus name was used by Index as a banner to publish their titles. Atlus USA was renamed to Index Digital Media as a result.

In June 2013, Index was convicted of corporate fraud, leading to them declaring bankruptcy. Creator/SegaSammyHoldings eventually stepped in and purchased Index (including Atlus) for 14 billion yen (approximately $141 million US). By 2014, Atlus was re-established under Sega. Index's other assets were sold two years later.

Quite a few Atlus alumni became major players in the game industry after their tenures at the company ended. Kazuya Niinō, Kouji Okada and Range Murata began their gaming careers at the studio.

Its North American rival, Creator/{{Sierra}}, was known for developing very difficult games and was defunct for years before being revived by its parent company, Creator/{{Activision}}.

Following the success of the ''[[Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020 Sonic]]'' [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog22022 movies]], Sega has [[https://www.ign.com/articles/atlus-live-action-movie-tv-adaptations-sega-exclusive expressed an interest]] in adapting Atlus' IP to live action film and television. Time will tell if they follow through. Worth mentioning the [[https://youtu.be/SuJBxPZPQJk rather surreal]] TV drama adaptation of ''VideoGame/DevilSummoner''.

In June 2013, Index was convicted of corporate fraud, leading to them declaring bankruptcy. Sega Sammy eventually stepped in and purchased Index (including Atlus) for 14 billion yen (approximately $141 million US). By 2014, Atlus was re-established under Sega. Index's other assets were sold two years later.