Pole to Win Holdings is planning to withdraw from media and content business, and as a result, the company will be selling and transfer all shares of subsidiary and game studio Aquaplus to an outside company. Aquaplus is a direct subsidiary of Pole to Win Holdings’ HIKE Group, and PTW has agreed to a management buyout offer by HIKE’s current management.
The result will be a new HIKE Holdings company that spins off HIKE’s assets from PTW, except for Aquaplus. Negotiations are underway with multiple companies aiming to buy and transfer Aquaplus to a company. Going forward, PTW will continue to have a business partnership with HIKE and Aquaplus.
Aquaplus will soon release romance visual novel remake ToHeart on June 26 for PC via Steam worldwide and Nintendo Switch in Japan. Shiravune will publish the Steam version, which supports English, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese language options with full Japanese voice-overs. A western release for the Nintendo Switch version was not announced. A free ToHeart demo was released on June 19 for Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam. In Japan. The demo does not support save data transfers, however.
Currently, Aquaplus is developing Utawarerumono: Shiro e no Michishirube, the latest game in the series, alongside a revival of the cancelled Jasmine visual novel. Lastly, the new Utawarerumono title will launch in 2025 for unannounced platforms in Japan.
