Atlus Have Taken Over Distribution Rights For Persona 4 Arena In Europe

We recently learnt that Persona 4 Arena was removed from the European PlayStation Network, and Siliconera has been trying to find out why.

I spoke with Geraint Evans of PQube, formerly of publisher Zen United, and he explained that Atlus are now handling Persona 4 Arena in European territories themselves. Evans explained that Atlus “currently hold the digital distribution rights for Persona 4 Arena in Europe”.

Since Atlus have taken over distribution for Persona 4 Arena in Europe, there are a bunch of reasons it could have been removed from PSN. One of these could be that the details for the game’s PEGI rating need to be updated and transferred accordingly, which could require that it be taken down in the interim.

Another very likely possibility is that, when publishing rights are transferred from one publisher to another, the game needs to be taken down by the former publisher (so that they don’t continue to make revenue off of it) and re-uploaded by the new publisher. Persona 4 Arena could just be in the middle of such a transition.

Of course, while the game is unavailable via PSN, it’s still available at retailers in the U.K. and Europe.