Atlus to publish more games in Europe

Atlus is to start publishing more games in Europe, according to Atlus USA’s senior PR manager Jacob Nahin.

“Previously, we worked with Koch Media – they’re publishing Yakuza Kiwami, for example – but now we’re going to start to publish more titles ourselves over here,” Nahin told MCV@gamescom.

Exact titles have yet to be announced, but Nahin told us that we can expect them to be for the Nintendo 3DS platform. He also said the company’s move into European publishing will help ensure more parity between the special editions of its titles all over the world.

“It’s a new experience for us, but it will also allow us to deliver a lot of the special bundles, such as our launch editions, collector and premium editions [in Europe], which in the past haven’t always been the same on this side of the ocean when they come over,” Nahin continued.

“An example would be Yakuza 6. Both the US and Europe will now get those whisky glasses with the frosting on them, and the coasters, and all of that as extras. It provides us with a lot of business opportunities, and a lot of opportunities to better give fans what they’re looking for.”

Nahin also said that several of the franchises from Atlus’ parent company Sega have seen huge growth in Europe over the past year.

“It’s been interesting to see the awareness of the Yakuza franchise and the IP as a whole grow. I feel like Yakuza 0 came out of nowhere for a lot of people, but we’ve seen the fandom and [user] base grow a little bit more with each title. Atlus also published Persona 5 [in the US], which is still selling really well, and it definitely seems people are now more aware of the Persona franchise as well. It’s always had a strong following, but each time it does better. I think it’s a really interesting time for Japanese titles coming to the west.”