Tecmo Koei acquires Gust

Developers of the popular Atelier franchise are now fully owned by the Tecmo Koei Holdings.  The motivation seems to be tied to some powerful IPs owned by the company. 

It is currently up in the air how this will affect games currently being development or those in the planning stages. Tecmo Koei seems to have plans for making social games out of some of the IPs, but whether they will relegate a small team to this duty or outsource it entirely is unknown.  

This aquisistion may lead to some publishing issues.  For example, the fan favorite series Ar Tonelico is owned and published by Namco Bandai.  Of course a collaboration should not be ruled out.  Nis America on the other hand might not be as lucky as it is unlikely Tecmo Koei would allow them to localize Gust's games anymore.

This does open up a whole new door of possibilities.  Perhaps we will get some Atelier characters in the next Ninja Gaiden game.  Maybe even an Atelier Musou!