Atlus Sues Fans Behind Shin Megami Tensei MMO Recreation

Atlus is suing fans who recreated its old MMO Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine.

ReImagine, as the unofficial fan server was called, has since been shut down.

Atlus’ MMO was first released in Japan in 2007 and had players exploring a post-apocalyptic Tokyo. North American (2008) and European (2009) releases followed, but the game was officially discontinued in 2016.

The ReImagine fan server was first launched in 2020, mimicking the original game’s launcher to allow fans to play the MMO again, as well as its website.

However, Atlus is now suing fan creators Rekuiemu and COMP_Hack – the defendants named in the lawsuit.

In court papers, Atlus says these fans “have caused and will continue to cause irreparable harm to Atlus unless restrained by this Court.”

Atlus is seeking up to $25,000 per copyright infringement.

As spotted by VGC, the fan creators posted a statement on the ReImagine Discord, which has now been taken offline.

“We were recently informed that one of our ‘competitors’ has been served with a court filing and that Atlus is currently taking legal action against them and the COMP_Hack team. Although ReImagine has not received any sort of notice (to our knowledge), Atlus’s decision to sue instead of issuing a C&D has made us concerned for the safety of the users who helped keep the game alive”, can we read.

“So, with heavy hearts, we regret to inform everyone that the decision has been made to permanently shut down the ReImagine server.”

While there are certainly copyright complications, the lawsuit once again brings the game’s preservation issue to the fore.