{"id":72364,"date":"2026-09-11T16:47:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T07:47:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=72364"},"modified":"2026-09-11T17:01:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T08:01:51","slug":"aquaplus-parent-company-plans-to-strengthen-overseas-expansion-as-latest-utawarerumono-title-performs-below-targets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/aquaplus-parent-company-plans-to-strengthen-overseas-expansion-as-latest-utawarerumono-title-performs-below-targets\/","title":{"rendered":"Aquaplus parent company plans to strengthen overseas expansion as latest Utawarerumono title performs below targets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Developer Yuke\u2019s \u2013 who <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/wwe-dev-yukes-considers-toheart-studio-aquaplus-an-ideal-acquisition-adding-storytelling-and-ip-expertise-to-its-development-framework\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">became the parent company<\/a> of visual novel studio <strong>Aqualplus<\/strong> in 2025 \u2013 recently published its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yukes.co.jp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/202609102.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">financial report<\/a> for the fiscal year ending January 2027, announcing plans to stabilize its revenue base through joint development of new titles as well as ports and overseas expansion of existing Aquaplus IPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Yuke\u2019s saw steady performance in its overall game business, things were a bit mixed when it comes to Aquaplus. The new JRPG Utawarerumono: Past and Present Rediscovered, which released in May this year as the series\u2019 final entry, fell short of targets. On the other hand, revenue related to White Album 2\u2019s 15th anniversary (events, merch) was strong, which Yuke\u2019s sees as indicative of the high potential of existing IPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of note, the company says it recognizes that \u201cthere is still room to expand awareness of Aquaplus titles overseas.\u201d Consequently, it intends to strengthen efforts for expansion in English- and Chinese- speaking regions. Rather than relying on any single release, Yuke\u2019s says it plans to pursue \u201cmulti-faceted expansion of existing IPs\u201d alongside development of new titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When it comes to upcoming projects, Yuke\u2019s says development of Aquaplus\u2019s \u201cProject Kizuna\u201d and \u201cJasmine\u201d are progressing smootly. Additionally, the two studios are jointly planning a new video game IP. Ports of past Aquaplus titles are also in the works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/aquaplus-expects-quality-of-its-future-games-to-rise-dramatically-thanks-to-new-parent-company-yukes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Aquaplus expects quality of its future games to \u201crise dramatically\u201d thanks to new parent company Yuke\u2019s<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ports of existing titles are in the works, as well as a brand-new IP jointly developed by Yuke&#8217;s and Aquaplus<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":72367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","autoblue_enabled":false,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","autoblue_publish_document":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-72364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":7}},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - 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AUTOMATON WEST","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/aquaplus-parent-company-plans-to-strengthen-overseas-expansion-as-latest-utawarerumono-title-performs-below-targets\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Aquaplus parent company plans to strengthen overseas expansion as latest Utawarerumono title performs below targets - AUTOMATON WEST","og_description":"Ports of existing titles are in the works, as well as a brand-new IP jointly developed by Yuke's and Aquaplus","og_url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/aquaplus-parent-company-plans-to-strengthen-overseas-expansion-as-latest-utawarerumono-title-performs-below-targets\/","og_site_name":"AUTOMATON WEST","article_published_time":"2026-09-11T07:47:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-11T08:01:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1529,"height":856,"url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/202609011-72364-header.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Amber V","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_site":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Amber V","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/aquaplus-parent-company-plans-to-strengthen-overseas-expansion-as-latest-utawarerumono-title-performs-below-targets\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/aquaplus-parent-company-plans-to-strengthen-overseas-expansion-as-latest-utawarerumono-title-performs-below-targets\/"},"author":{"name":"Amber V","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fdc6517a00e35b6917ffdb02e8b574d9"},"headline":"Aquaplus parent company plans to strengthen overseas expansion as latest Utawarerumono title performs below targets","datePublished":"2026-09-11T07:47:57+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-11T08:01:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/aquaplus-parent-company-plans-to-strengthen-overseas-expansion-as-latest-utawarerumono-title-performs-below-targets\/"},"wordCount":254,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/aquaplus-parent-company-plans-to-strengthen-overseas-expansion-as-latest-utawarerumono-title-performs-below-targets\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/202609011-72364-header.jpg","keywords":["News (Japan-related)"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/aquaplus-parent-company-plans-to-strengthen-overseas-expansion-as-latest-utawarerumono-title-performs-below-targets\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/aquaplus-parent-company-plans-to-strengthen-overseas-expansion-as-latest-utawarerumono-title-performs-below-targets\/","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/aquaplus-parent-company-plans-to-strengthen-overseas-expansion-as-latest-utawarerumono-title-performs-below-targets\/","name":"Aquaplus parent company plans to strengthen overseas expansion as latest Utawarerumono title performs below targets - 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