Naoto Hiraoka , the head of consumer software for the Atlus game brand, issued a statement on Wednesday to assure fans that business will continue as before. Sega Sammy Holdings confirmed earlier in the day that Sega will form a wholly owned subsidiary to take over the operations of Index Corporation by November 1. Index owns and manages Atlus , a former independent company and the current brand of games such as Etrian Odyssey, Shin Megami Tensei , and Persona .

Hiraoka acknowledged that the Atlus brand will become part of the Sega Sammy Group (specifically, the new subsidiary Sega Dream), but added that the entire consumer game unit will remain focused on developing titles for future release. He said that his brand has maintained a good relationship with Sega from before, and added that he thinks the current potential for business synergy is very high. He specifically highlighted Sega 's strong distribution network as beneficial going forward.

He apologized for causing fans to worry, asked for their continued support, and asked them to look forward to further developments from Atlus .

Since last year, Hiraoka has also been the president and CEO of Atlus U.S.A., Inc. in North America.

[Via Hachima Kikō]