Atlus USA’s commitment to fiddling with its release schedule continues this week with two more game delays, both for entirely different reasons.
Previously scheduled to ship for PSP next week on April 7th, first-person dungeon crawl RPG Class of Heroes has been pushed all the way back to June 9th after a “show-stopping bug” was found at the very last minute. Kudos to Atlus for finding the bug and not pushing the game out the door unfixed like we all know many publishers would do without a moment’s hesitation.
“Just days prior to manufacturing, a show-stopping bug was discovered,” explained Aram Jabbari, manager of PR and Sales. “We will under no circumstance ship a product with foreknowledge of such an issue, and so we must delay the game to resolve the problem and deliver a final product to our fans that lives up to the high standards we aspire to and that they deserve.”
Pushed from April 21st to May 19th, DS puzzle-platformer Steal Princess had its release date adjusted not because of any last-minute bug discoveries, but due to the game’s niche market appeal and Atlus’ desire to find the optimal time to release the title to prevent it from getting lost in the shuffle.
“Releasing a few weeks later gives us more time to familiarize gamers with this creative, original title,” stated Tim Pivnicny, VP of Sales and Marketing at Atlus. “Because Steal Princess will be available through fewer sales channels and in smaller quantities than other Atlus releases, finding the optimal launch conditions is critical to ensuring that this daring new release avoids getting lost in an already busy April.”
Steal Princess has also now been added to the Atlus Spoils program. All launch copies will come with a pack-in mini-poster.
Matt Litten is the full-time editor and owner of VGBlogger.com. He is responsible for maintaining the day to day operation of the site, editing all staff content before it is published, and contributing regular news, reviews, previews and other articles.
Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the sad and untimely close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com. After a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez, Matt assumed full ownership over VGBlogger, and to this day he is dedicated to making it one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
Matt is a fair-minded reviewer and lover of games of all platforms and types, big or small, hyped or niche, big-budget or indie. But that doesn't mean he will let poor games slide without a good thrashing when necessary! 
I love Atlus because of their dedication to delivering solid handheld RPG & strategy games we otherwise might never see. I’ve paid for more than a couple of clunkers, but I have no issue with that because of how much great stuff they’ve done. And this stuff falls in line – making things right for gamers!
100% agreed. And what I really appreciate is how Atlus embraces its niche status. A lot of these smallish publishers still try to hype their games up like the best things ever, but Atlus never does that. You always know what you’re gonna get from an Atlus game, and that’s why the company has such a loyal following.
It’s also nice to see Atlus branching out into genres beyond RPGs. This year’s lineup is pretty diverse.