Atlus U.S. Records $5 Million Profit For 2010, Attributing Success To Demon's Souls

Author: by Simon Partin

Index Holdings, the new parent company of Shin Megami Tensei publisher Atlus, has released its latest U.S. division financial results, recording profits of 437 million yen ($5.39 million) for the fiscal year, up from a loss of ¥104 million ($1.2 million) in 2009. Over the course of the financial year, which ended August 31 for the company, Index Holdings reported that Atlus USA made ¥3.299 billion ($40.7 million) in sales, up from ¥2.732 billion ($33.6 million) in 2009. In the report the company apportions a great deal of this success to Demon's Souls, the PlayStation 3 sleeper hit developed by From Software and picked up for North American publishing by Atlus. While Demon's Souls, an unforgiving action RPG, had a poor showing at the Tokyo Game Show ahead of its release, word of mouth support from players following its release and a favorable critical reception saw sales build steadily over the course of the year. The news of Atlus' U.S. financial turnaround comes as the Japanese arm of the publisher announced a Japanese release date of February 17 for Catherine, the company's first PS3 and Xbox 360 HD title, which has been garnering attention for its unique style and seemingly mature themes.