Siliconera posted a new Famitsu interview with the new President of Index Corporation, Sega-Sammy’s COO Naoya Tsurumi. In the interview, Tsurumi assured fans that Sega would not interfere with Index’s usual business, but also mentioned that Index (and therefore Atlus) would be free to use Sega’s resources and even dormant IP. That’s good news, but the following quote from Tsurumi regarding the many Atlus fans out there is rather interesting:
Having the fans feel uneasy is the worst thing we could do. Above all, I’d like to make sure that the fans feel a sense of reassurance. If we were to lose fans, then all would be for nothing. Making fans and the employees of Index happy is what I believe will be our best return [for the company], and we’ll do our best to keep that up.
Now Tsurumi was talking about Atlus fans here, but of course the same logic should apply for Sega fans as well. And yet, the Sega fans overseas aren’t getting the chance to play the games out of their favorite franchises. If Mr. Tsurumi is indeed convinced that all is for nothing if they lose fans, then why is their current strategy doing exactly that? This is all the more reason for us to make our voice heard, and show Sega-Sammy that we do indeed care more than they might realize. If you haven’t signed our petition yet, please do so. Let Sega know how many fans they do risk losing by not releasing their games outside of Japan. And do let us know your thoughts about the interview in the comments!