Yuke’s Acquires AQUAPLUS, Developer of Utawarerumono

Yuke’s will acquire AQUAPLUS, developer of Utawarerumono and ToHeart, from Pole To Win Holdings for ¥783.52 million yen, the company announced. The acquisition includes AQUAPLUS subsidiary FIXRECORDS and is expected to be finalized in September.

The move follows Pole To Win Holdings announcing plans to sell AQUAPLUS as it withdraws from the media content business.

Yuke’s stated the acquisition presents an opportunity to combine its console game development capabilities with AQUAPLUS’s intellectual property expertise and brand planning to develop games in new genres with different approaches. By absorbing some of AQUAPLUS’s development projects into the group, Yuke’s also aims to optimize resources and stabilize operations within its contract development pipeline.

The company added that incorporating AQUAPLUS’s specialization in bishojo adventure games will help it expand development genres, reach new customer bases, and implement cross-sales strategies. Yuke’s also expects to accelerate AQUAPLUS’s IP global expansion by leveraging localization, multi-platform support, and foreign publisher collaboration expertise gained through developing many internationally released titles.