Cognition Dissemination: SegAtlus USA is Complete — And That’s OK

About two-and-a-half years ago, I would have freaked out upon hearing news that Sega of America has finalized their acquisition of Atlus USA. That I’m not, however, shows exactly how drastically situations can change within only a short while.

To clarify: Sega of America was at one of their lowest points ever a few years ago, in terms of software titles they localized and overall morale. They were still amidst their recovery process after Sega’s main Japanese arm gutted them after a severe drop in profits. This was after they tried experimentations with their HD console software lineup, which gave us titles like Bayonetta, Vanquish, Resonance of Fate, and Binary Domain, all of which sadly sold below Sega’s expectations. Their lack of advertising for them outside of Bayonetta didn’t help, but there was no reversing this damage. Their gutting also cut off their localizations of niche Japanese games, which caused us to miss out on titles like the 7th Dragon games and various Yakuza projects, among others.

Incidentally, their efforts to reduce their retail software output to four franchises — Sonic, Total War, Football Manager, and Alien(s) — didn’t work out well, either. The Gearbox-developed Aliens: Colonial Marines severely harmed the franchise’s gaming reputation with its mediocrity, which sealed the fate of the subsequent Alien: Isolation well before its release — despite it being good. And the Sonic franchise was harmed after Sega decided to make a number of low-selling Wii U exclusives, but especially after that console’s version of Sonic Boom. The company has unsurprisingly drifted back into localizing more niche Japanese titles, since they at least bring in small-but-reliable revenue.

Sega’s localizations started picking back up with the Hatsune Miku rhythm titles for various PlayStation platforms, and eventually one for 3DS. This continued with the likes of Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax and Yakuza 5, though the latter came with Sony’s assistance after a plethora of fan demand. Now, they’re in the process of localizing Yakuza 0 for PS4 and 7th Dragon III: Code VFD (the first officially localized 7th Dragon title) for 3DS. Those will arrive in early 2017 and July 12th (for America, anyway), respectively.

Given the info surrounding the localizations of those two titles, though, we should have seen this acquisition coming. Atlus USA PR Manager John L. Hardin has been also handling PR for Sega for a little while now, especially for their niche titles. He was also the first to confirm that Yakuza 0 would receive a retail release in both major western territories. Additionally, a post on Sega’s blog regarding Code VFD was written by EJ Rivera, who’s been an Atlus employee since November. They’ve been collaborating for a good amount of time, so this was simply the next step in their relationship.

While we’re somewhat on the topic of Miku: Sega proved that localizations of those titles are here to say.  Hatsune Miku: Project Diva X was confirmed for an American release, which will arrive this fall for PS4 and Vita. While Miku isn’t quite the cultural phenomenon in America as she is in Japan, she still has a big audience here. There’s assuredly a good reason why she was able to perform on The Late Show with David Letterman, an unforgettable and surreal experience for multiple reasons. Not to mention Toyota used an Americanized version of her for their Corolla advertisements in 2011.The game should sell a modest amount of copies when it releases here, even though its launch numbers weren’t too encouraging in Japan.

For the above reasons, it’s easy for me to believe that nothing will change in how Sega of America and especially Atlus USA conduct business from here on, despite it often being difficult to trust companies at their word. Everyone who envisioned the best-case scenario (not me, sadly) when the Atlus/Sega acquisition was in its earliest stages was correct. This relationship should continue as long as a market for niche Japanese games can sustain both companies– regardless of which platform their software lands on.

Since that’s settled: It’s about time they got started on those collaborative projects, involving Atlus using some of Sega’s dormant properties. There has to be something beyond Miku appearing in Persona 4: Dancing All Night, right?

P.S. Also, I hope the extra workload isn’t holding back Shin Megami Tensei IV: Final’s localization. The previous game released in America less than two months after its Japanese release, but it’s been precisely that amount of time since Final released in Japan, and Atlus USA has been silent regarding its whereabouts. I still think it’s coming, but it’s taking a considerably longer time for them to announce it than I expected. Surely there’s no chance of them skipping it completely. I mean, that’s unfathomable. I think.

Related posts:

Cognition Dissemination: For Sonic the Hedgehog’s Polished Future Cognition Dissemination: #FE’s Initial Sales Tip is Dull in Japan Cognition Dissemination: Is Nintendo Funding Bayonetta 3 a Possibility? Cognition Dissemination: Feeling Blue About Valkyria: Azure Revolution