Atlus' eclectic role-playing spectacles such as the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series as well as out-of-the-box titles like Catherine and 3D Dot Game Heroes have been hugely supported by Western audiences, but the development team has now a bigger issue to tackle concerning them and their parent company.

For those with a shy knowledge of Japanese law and it’s procedures, the story goes like this: Index Holdings, the primary source responsible for funding and spearheading all of Atlus’ projects, developers and assets, has been accused of fudging their sales numbers as of late—or rather, lying about how much money made off of the products being sold, of which the accuser claim they’ve been boasting those numbers up quite a bit. The company has since filed for rehabilitation and will be undergoing several procedures in efforts to clear their name and save the company.

Their offices were raided by Japanese surveillance officials after several instances of the company’s round tripping habits—a tactic that basically allows for an entity to sell off assets to another firm and then have the same firm sell those directly back to the owners. This creates the illusion that games were bought by many individuals and the numbers of sales rising.

The practice is deemed immoral and unlawful in the land of the rising sun.

It’s also important to note that several higher ups of Atlus have motioned their wanting to part ways with the company, especially CEO Yoshimi Ochiai and board director Masami Ochiai.

While there are no charges currently set in motion, it does bring up a little bit of shake of the company. If things go awry, the very developers who have pumped out countless amount of amazingly rich JRPG's may find themselves asunder in the gaming business spectrum. Many speculate that there probably will be a sale in the near future.

Joining the fray of Persona 4: Golden, their recent Nintendo 3DS release of Shin Megami Tensei IV has already caught a lot of thumbs up across the board. Fans on message forums and social media are anchoring for the company’s speedy recovery.

Let’s hope they do. Either that, or they jump ship and find a more reliable backing company. Logical right?