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Atlus Suing Fans Who Revived Shin Megami Tensei MMO

Atlus-Suing-Fans-Who-Revived-Shin-Megami-Tensei-MMO

Two Shin Megami Tensei MMO fans are currently being sued by developer Atlus for allegedly violating copyright

Many games are so appealing to players that they bring them back after the developers shut down the official servers.

The MMO was released first in Japan in 2007 and then in the United States and Europe in 2008 and 2009. The MMO’s servers were closed on the 24th of May 2016 which ended the era.

The game’s fans disapproved of the decision to shut down the servers, and decided to bring the game back on their own.

ReImagine, Rekuiemu, and COMP Hack were three different services that went live in 2020 and made the defunct Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine available to players.

All three have been discontinued as a result of the lawsuits. ReImagine elected to shut its doors in advance of a lawsuit. Rekuiemu and COMP Hack are currently the targets of the lawsuit.

Rekuiemu and COMP Hack are now being actively sued for “copyright infringement” by Atlus.

Nanashi from Shin Megami Tensai

Atlus is also claiming that Rekueimu is operating a website that is a “blatant copy” of the original. The lawsuit asserts that Reukuiemu “falsely added its own copyright information”. Alongside those for Atlus, Sega, and co-developer Cave Interactive, making the website a key talking point for Atlus.

Rekuiemu and COMP Hack have now been served with a summons to court in connection with the complaint, which was initially filed in December 2021.

Despite the servers being inactive for over six years, the lawsuit asserts that the fan server has “caused and will continue to cause irreparable damage to Atlus unless restrained by this Court.” The developer is asking for “statutory damages of up to $25,000 per violation of the DMCA. ” plus “monetary relief, including damages sustained by Atlus in an amount not yet determined.”

Recent years have seen an increase in the debate surrounding game archiving, piracy, and the intersection between the two. Fans contend that it’s critical for players to be able to store game data. Players should be able to access their game data in case firms remove or abandon games.

Many more would probably be “lost media” if it weren’t for gamers taking matters into their own hands. Countless untold games are currently regarded as such.

Various characters from Shin Megami Tensei

MMOs present a more significant challenge to archives than conventional games. After all, private servers are required in order to present the game as it was intended to be played. There is some thought put into archiving MMOs.

As seen by the 2018 DMCA exception granted to The Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment for the preservation of online games.

“Reimagine” released a statement on its Discord server stating:


“While ReImagine hasn’t been served any sort of notice (that we know of), Atlus’s decision to outright sue instead of issue a C&D has made us worry about the safety of the users who helped keep the game alive. So with a heavy heart, we regret to inform everyone that the decision has been made to close down the ReImagine server permanently.”

If Atlus prevails in this legal battle, it may inspire other companies to take a similar approach and pursue gamers. Gamers who are fighting to protect games that might otherwise never see the light of day again.

This is a very worrying prospect and could mean the permanent death of many MMOs. This is after the dedicated servers have been taken offline ending an era of fans taking matters into their own hands.