Studio Élan

Studio Élan is an independent video game developer and publisher founded in 2017 by Josh Kaplan. They specialised in yuri visual novels and are best known for their first two titles, Highway Blossoms and Heart of the Woods.

History
Studio Élan first began as an amateur game development group under the name Alienwork. Between working on another project within Alienwork, Syon Santeria pitched fellow member Josh Kaplan on creating a yuri visual novel as a smaller side project, the idea interested Kaplan and the pair began development of Highway Blossoms. Sekai Project announced the game at Anime Weekend Atlanta on September 26, 2015, and in 2016 opened a Steam Greenlight page for the game. Highway Blossoms was initially released without any voice acting and its sound was limited to an acoustic soundtrack. An adult content patch was made freely available. The developer later released a remastered version of the game featuring voice-overs for the characters.

Highway Blossoms received positive reviews for its visuals, story, and soundtrack. Kaplan also noted that the game "ended up being unexpectedly successful," stating that "it found an audience of primarily LGBT readers who appreciated what they felt was a more realistic approach to same-sex relationships." Due to the game's success, Kaplan went on to found Studio Élan in February 2017. In October, Highway Blossoms's publisher Sekai Project announced that Élan would be working on two further visual novels. One of these was Heart of the Woods, which would be released in 2019. The studio's work would go on to garner a reputation for commonly featuring LGBTQ+ and sapphic themes. In a 2018 interview, the head of the studio stated that "the majority" of studio members are LGBT women.

In 2019, the studio announced Lock and Key, a magical girl yuri visual novel. In February 2020, Studio Élan announced that they would begin publishing visual novels under their newly formed "Bellhouse" label, with First Snow as their first title. They further released Highway Blossoms: Next Exit, downloadable content (DLC) for Highway Blossoms in 2020. Also in February, the release a trailer for Summer At the Edge of the Universe, which was set for release in 2021. In April 2021, Studio Elan announced plans for a console port of Highway Blossoms.

In October 2022, the studio merged with Studio Coattails. In November, the studio released Please Be Happy. In April 2023, Heart of the Woods received a limited physical release. Later in October, the studio published Twofold, a visual novel following non-binary college student Olive Penn.