Atlus Historia

What follows is a brief chronological overview of developer and publisher Atlus.

  • 7 April 1986: Establishment of Atlus [kabushiki-gaisha atorasu] with the development of computer software as its main product; Inauguration of representative director Naoya Harano (原野直也).
  • January 1987: Start of domestically selling business-oriented amusement products.
  • March 1989: Completion of the concept of the new business “karaoke box; start of commercially selling equipment and facilities for the “karaoke box”.
  • August 1989: Opening of the company’s first store, the “Atlus City Meidaimae-ten” game centre.
  • October 1989: Start of selling home console games. Release of “Puzzle Boy” for Game Boy as the company’s first brand for the Game Boy.
  • January 1991: Start of professionally expanding the market by selling products in the United States.
  • April 1991: Release of “New York Yankees” as the company’s first brand for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
  • April 1992: Release of the company’s first arcade game, “Blazeon”.
  • October 1992: Release of Super Nintendo game “Shin Megami Tensei”.
  • September 1994: Opening of arcade hall “Muu Tairi Kuyahara-ten”.
  • July 1995: Manufacturing and selling of original “Print Club” (‘purikura’) sticker booths.
  • December 1995: Release of Sega Saturn game “Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner”.
  • September 1996: Release of PlayStation game “Megami Ibunroku Persona”.
  • April 1997: Establishment of Atlus Entertainment Pte LTD in Singapore.
  • October 1997: Over-the-counter stocks (now: JASDAQ).
  • March 1999: Establishment of Atlus U.S.A., Inc. in the United States.
  • July 2000: Capital and business alliance with Kadokawa Shoten.
  • April 2001: Inauguration of Matsuo Iwata (に岩田松雄) appointed as representative director.
  • October 2001: Start of directly selling home console games; acquired all shares of Career Soft, Inc.
  • July 2002: Opening of the large-scale arcade hall “Game Panic Tokyo”.
  • January 2003: Establishment of the temporary shadow company Shangai Atlus Digital in Shanghai, China.
  • March 2003: Establishment of “Atlus (Tianjin) Electronics Co., Ltd.” in Tianjin, China; business partnership with Takara Co., Ltd. (now: Takara Tomy).
  • June 2003: Inauguration of Nobuyuki Okude (奥出信行) appointed as representative director.
  • October 2003: Implementation of third-party allocation for new shares as issued by Takara Co., Ltd.; Atlus becomes a consolidated subsidiary of Takara Co., Ltd.
  • January 2004: Inheriting of the home console game divison of Takara Co., Ltd.
  • June 2004:  Acquired shares of C & C Media Co., Ltd.
  • April 2005: Inauguration of Shigeru Igari (猪狩茂) appointed as representative director.
  • March 2006: Start of selling arcade machines (until September 2007).
  • November 2006: Atlus becomes a consolidated subsidiary of Index Holdings.
  • June 2007: Acquired shares of Mad.
  • September 2007: Mad Ltd. merges with Atlus.
  • March 2009: Arcade game related operation discontinued.
  • December 2009: Spinning off a new division to focus on business related to amusement facilities; 86% of the shares of this division is transferred to small to medium enterprises of Leisure Organisation Ltd. (effective as of 1 December 2009).