WWE and Earth Defense Force developer Yuke’s has acquired Japanese visual novel-focused studio Aquaplus, best known for games like To Heart, Utawarerumono, and White Album.
As spotted by Automaton Media, Yuke’s announced the acquisition via its official Japanese website earlier today. The deal, which cost Yuke’s around 784 million yen (around $5.3 million), also includes F.I.X. Records, a music label under Aquaplus’ stewardship.
Naturally, as is customary in the corporate world, Yuke’s is looking to leverage Aquaplus’ expertise in the visual novel area in order to reach a new audience, and it’ll be putting some of its own development heft behind the studio’s ongoing projects.
If you’re not familiar with Aquaplus, it’s a Japanese visual novel-centric studio that’s also responsible for the Leaf label, under which the company has published games like 1998’s White Album and 1997’s To Heart.
The aforementioned White Album was unavailable outside of Japan between its original 1998 release and 2023, when it was released for PC via Steam in the West, complete with an all-new official localization.
ToHeart, meanwhile, was remade earlier this year for PC and Switch, and the new version boasts all-new 3D scenes, improved visuals and gameplay, and a new set of voiceovers, although you can also choose to switch to the original cast if you prefer.
As for Yuke’s, you probably know the studio’s name best from the WWE 2K series, for which it was responsible between its inception in 2000 through to 2018, at which point 2K subsidiary Visual Concepts took over the series (with what can best be described as mixed results to start with).
Following the WWE 2K franchise switching to Visual Concepts, Yuke’s worked on the official AEW tie-in game AEW: Fight Forever, and the studio is also responsible for this year’s upcoming beat-’em-up Double Dragon Revive.
You may also know Yuke’s from its work on the Earth Defense Force franchise; the developer worked on spinoffs like the World Brothers sub-series and 2019’s Iron Rain.
Whether or not the acquisition of Aquaplus by Yuke’s results in a change in either studio’s operations remains to be seen, but I’d imagine it’ll be business as usual. Stay tuned for more.
