Atlus Takes Legal Action Against Creators of Unofficial Shin Megami Tensei MMO Server

In a recent development, Japanese game publisher Atlus has initiated a lawsuit against the individuals responsible for managing a private server for the now-defunct Shin Megami Tensei Imagine MMO. The lawsuit, filed in December, alleges that the defendants have committed a 'flagrant breach of US copyright law' by reviving the game through their Rekuiemu Imagine project. According to the suit, the defendants created an exact replica of the original SMT Imagine website, directing users to download a nearly identical version of the game. Furthermore, the lawsuit accuses the defendants of establishing an unauthorized web server that emulates the original game, enabling users to play together online. The official SMT Imagine servers were shut down in the US and Japan in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Atlus is seeking a court order to halt the server's operation and is also pursuing monetary damages, including statutory damages of up to $25,000 per infringement and any profits generated by the defendants' alleged copyright violations. As a result, the Rekuiemu website and related Discord server have been taken offline.