Game Freak co-founder and Pokemon chief Junichi Masuda doesn’t see the Pokemon franchise ever moving from its current home on the Pokemon franchises. As part of a recent feature on Pokemon, Game Informer asked Masuda about Game Freak’s relationship with Nintendo. Masuda spoke positively about Nintendo, stating that “Everyone really knows Nintendo; there is a familiarity with the brand, and they have that really strong brand and Pokemon being associated with that and being affiliated with that bring is very important.”
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Game Freak and Nintendo have a long relationship that pre-dates Pokemon. Game Freak’s first game ever was Quinty for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and the developer also worked on a Yoshi game a few years later. However, Game Freak does have games that aren’t on Nintendo platforms, including the recent game Giga Wrecker, which is only available for Steam and PC.
And when asked about whether he ever saw the Pokemon franchise moving away from Nintendo platforms, Masuda seemed skeptical. “With Pokemon, at least, we really feel it is really important to be with Nintendo, specifically with the Pokemon titles, so I don’t think that would ever happen.”
The ownership of the Pokemon franchise is a complicated one, and it’s unlikely that Game Freak could ever migrate away from Nintendo even if it wanted to. The Pokemon Company, which controls every aspect of the Pokemon franchise, is co-owned by Game Freak, Nintendo, and Creatures Inc., which is known for developing many of Pokemon’s side games.
The Pokemon franchise is branching out, however, thanks to the popularity of Pokemon Go. While Game Freak didn’t directly develop Pokemon Go, Niantic did consult Masuda and other Pokemon heads when making the popular mobile app. But while the Pokemon franchise is expanding, it’s unlikely at best that a main series game will ever migrate to a PlayStation or XBox console.
