It was announced by Sega and Atlus that Ian Curran, the President and COO of Sega of America, will be assuming the new role of President and COO of Atlus USA. This new position is in addition to his current position with Sega. Curran will be working alongside the CEO of Sega West, Tatsuyuki Miyazaki. Together they look to implement business strategies to fortify and grow their financial goals in the United States.
Miyazaki will be replacing current Atlus CEO, Naoto Hiraoka. Hiraoka is not done with the company, though, as he will now be focusing on being the brand owner of Atlus’ creative projects. He will also remain on board with Sega as well.
The shift in high-ranking positions comes after Sega purchased Atlus USA back in 2016 and became the new publisher for all of Atlus’ titles. Despite owning the publishing rights, the deal between Sega and Atlus had been for both companies to continue to run independently. With the CEO and COO spots now shared between both companies, it seems Sega is beginning to blur the lines between themselves and Atlus.
Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight are two upcoming titles from Sega/Atlus and were originally scheduled for a 2019 release; however, The U.S. and Europe will see both games a bit earlier than expected as they are both slated for a December 4 release! Both games will be available via PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita.
