Back in 2013,SEGAwon a bid to buy Atlus' parent company, Index Corporation, for ¥14 billion (or $90 million in today’s dollars), which, in turn, gave SEGA ownership ofAtlus' brands like Persona, Tactics Ogre and more.
To say SEGA has been happy with Atlus is an understatement, as the company has now called its buyout of the Persona developer one of their “most successful M&A (mergers & acquisitions) deals to date.“SEGA Sammy Holdings, which is the parent company of SEGA, recently held ashareholder’s Q&Aregarding the company’s earnings for the second quarter of fiscal year 2025, where it talked about the acquisition and the strong performances of its most recent releases,Sonic X Shadow Generations, andMetaphor: ReFantazio.
SEGA Says Atlus' Games Benefited From Their “Publishing Power” And Marketing
SEGA comments on Metaphor: ReFantazio’s' success (translated byAutomaton-Media), and how it has benefited from SEGA’s larger global reach, stating, “In the past, Atlus had limited resources and often narrowed down sales to specific countries, regions, and platforms, but by joining forces with Sega, they have gained the capability to expand their targets. We believe that the strong start of Metaphor: ReFantazio was made possible by the high quality of the product, as well as Sega’s publishing power that facilitated a simultaneous worldwide launch on multiple platforms.”
When it comes to Sonic X Shadow Generations, SEGA notes that it’s also performing well against sales targets. The company is expecting a boost in sales with the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie, which is due for release next month.
Metaphor: ReFantazio: 10 Hardest Boss Battles
Metaphor: ReFantazio is full of memorable boss battles against mutant humans and skilled combatants.
While Sonic X Shadow Generations is faring quite well both commercially and critically, there’s no doubtthat Metaphor: ReFantazio had the bigger impact for SEGA. While Sonic’s latest outing currently sits at a “Strong” rating onOpen Critic,with 87% of critics recommending it, Metaphor is ata “Mighty” ratingand has 98% of critics who recommend playing the RPG, which is just an insane number.
Not only that, but Metaphor: ReFantazio has even been chosenas one of The Game Awards' nominees for Game of the Year– a pick that surely made SEGA happy.
Atlus fans also have something to look forward to, as Metaphor’s director Katsura Hashino hasconfirmed he’s already started workon his next project.
Metaphor: ReFantazio
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