Ever since Atlus was acquired by Sega Sammy in September 2013, and subsequently split into its own entity in April 2014, Atlus has been growing at a steady pace. This momentum increased substantially when the new division, Studio Zero, was founded in December 2016.
Since the formation of Studio Zero, Atlus has been making an active recruitment push for new employees across all three of their major creative departments: 1st Production (Shin Megami Tensei, Etrian Odyssey, other), 2nd Production (Persona), and 3rd Production (Catherine: Full Body, Project Re Fantasy).
When Atlus Co., Ltd. had its new start under Sega in April 2014, its number of employees was at 121. As of April 2017, the company had gained 89 new staff members for a total of 210.
As of January 2018, the company had 250 employees, increasing by 40 less than a year later. Now, as of October 2018, Atlus counts 270 employees. In a year and a half, the company has grown by 28.6%.
Atlus Company Expansion & Goals
This steady growth is to achieve Atlus’ company goals, which were outlined in a recruitment page published in April 2017:
- Atlus states that, currently, they are a medium sized developer in the 10-12th class range in the games industry. Their brand power is growing dramatically with the expansion of their userbase due to key titles such as Persona, Shin Megami Tensei and Etrian Odyssey. The company’s reception in the West is increasing accordingly, as well. Atlus aims to be a 5th class company in the games industry by creating new IP and further growing existing series, with “originality and empathy” as the principle policy.
- For the time being, Atlus plans to increase the number of major positions at their company such as planners, programmers, and designers in order to achieve a stable sales goal of 1 million units annually.