Atlus
Atlus loses a historical piece of the team that dealt with Persona 5, as well as the other chapters of the series and Shin Megami Tensei, with the departure of Shoji Meguro from the team, composer who took part in the creation of various chapters of the series in issue and famous games of the label owned by Sega.Meguro will therefore work from now on as an indie and freelance composer, but will continue to collaborate with Atlus for some upcoming projects of the company, demonstrating the good relationship remained between the composer and his old team, in which he remained for 26 years in total.
Meguro joined Atlus in 1995 and took part in the composition of the soundtracks of all the major hits of the team, including various chapters of Shin Megami Tensei and Persona, of course.
Shoji Meguro, composer of Atlus, has decided to leave the team In practice, he appears in the credits of almost all the games released under the Atlus label, including the recent Persona 5 Royal, Persona 5 Strikers and Persona 5, as well to previous chapters of the series and other well-known titles such as Catherine, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux, Trauma Center and many others, as well as works in the field of animation with Persona 5: The Animation.
Nel Meanwhile, the composer has also gone into actual game development, recently working on the Unreal Engine. Kodansha Game Creators' Lab, Kodansha's indie development support program, has decided to support Meguro in the creation of his new indie game, which will be announced on November 6, 2021 at the Indie Live Expo 2021 Winter. The title in question seems to be a sort of stealth action in a sci-fi setting.
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Longtime Persona Composer Shoji Meguro Is Leaving Atlus
© Screenshot: Atlus A close-up screenshot of the Joker from Persona 5.Persona 5: Strikers is the last game Meguro worked as an Atlus employee.
Japanese composer Shoji Meguro announced that he has left Atlus, resigning from the Tokyo-based game company this past September.
“I’ve been creating role-playing games by myself during my spare time for the past five years now,” Meguro wrote in an official statement, adding that he decided to leave Atlus to focus on his dream of developing indie games.
Meguo had applied to enter the Kodansha Game Creators Lab and was selected as a finalist. This has apparently inspired him to make indie games full time. (Full disclosure: My first two books were published by Kodansha.)
Meguro joined Atlus in 1995, cutting his teeth on 1996's Revelations: Persona. While at Atlus, he collaborated musically with the likes of Tetsuya Kobayashi, Toshiki Konishi, and Atsushi Kitajoh, among others. He worked mostly on Shin Megami Tensei and Persona titles. He also helmed the PSP remakes of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona and Persona 2.
Meguro also composed music for the Persona anime, including the animated featured films. Most recently, he worked as sound director on Persona 5: Strikers.
“However, I will continue to maintain a good relationship with Atlus,” Meguro wrote. “While focusing on my own indie game development, I will continue to work with Atlus on game music, so I hope that those of you who were concerned about the sudden announcement will feel relieved.”
“Lastly, I would like to thank Atlus Co., Ltd. and my family for accompanying,” he added. “I would also like to thank Kodansha for giving me a chance to take on the challenge.”
In Japan, it has not been uncommon for game composers to continue writing music for their former employers after they’ve gone independent. It’s good to see Meguro was about to work out an agreement that benefits both himself and Atlus.