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.
[8][9][10][11] 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.
[1][12] In October, Highway Blossoms's publisher Sekai Project announced that Élan would be working on two further visual novels.
[17] 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.
[25] Later in October, the studio published Twofold, a visual novel following non-binary college student Olive Penn.