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Game Freak Inc.

Native name	株式会社ゲームフリーク
Romanized name	Gēmu Furīku
Company type	Private KK
Industry	Video games
Genre	Video game development
Founded	April 26, 1989; 35 years ago (1989-04-26) in Tokyo, Japan
Founders	Satoshi Tajiri Ken Sugimori Junichi Masuda
Headquarters	Kanda Square, 2-2-1 Kandanishiki-cho, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
Number of locations	1 (2020)
Key people	Satoshi Tajiri (president) Tetsuya Watanabe (managing director) Shigeru Ohmori (senior director) Ken Sugimori (art director)
Products	Pokémon series
Number of employees	207 (2024)
Website	www.gamefreak.co.jp
Footnotes / references

Game Freak Inc. is a Japanese video game developer, best known as the primary developer and co-owners of the Pokémon series of role-playing video games.

History

Predating the video game company, Game Freak was a self-published video game magazine created by Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori in the 1980s. The first issue was published in 1983 by Tajiri. Sugimori would join the magazine at a later date as an illustrator after finding the magazine in a shop and liking it. Tajiri also used "Game Freak" as his pen name when he wrote as a freelance writer to publications such as Family Computer Magazine and Famicom Tsūshin.

On April 26, 1989, Tajiri, Sugimori and Junichi Masuda started a video game development company with the same name. One of Game Freak's first games was the Nintendo Entertainment System action and puzzle game Quinty, which was released in North America as Mendel Palace. Its most popular series, Pokémon—the romanized portmanteau of the Japanese brand Pocket Monsters (ポケットモンスター, Poketto Monsutā)—is published and distributed respectively by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo worldwide.

In October 2015, Game Freak acquired Koa Games, a mobile development company. The company was subsequently merged into Game Freak on December 1, 2015.

In May 2019, Game Freak director Masayuki Onoue revealed that Game Freak is increasingly prioritizing original game creation, in order to grow the experience of its staff. The company's Gear Project initiative, which encourages creators to pitch original game ideas during quiet periods, has so far resulted in original games HarmoKnight, Pocket Card Jockey, Tembo the Badass Elephant and Giga Wrecker.

In February 2020, Game Freak relocated their headquarters to Kanda Square, an office building in Nishikichō shared with Nintendo's Tokyo branch.

In October 2024, nearly a terabyte of data from Game Freak's servers was stolen. Development builds, source code, and test sprites either planned or released for past Pokémon games were found, as well as code names for upcoming Pokémon games, and prototypes of unreleased remakes of Quinty and Yoshi. Shortly afterwards, Game Freak addressed the incident, stating that the leak was due to "unauthorized access to our servers by a third party", which had taken place in August 2024. They also stated that many employees' personal information had been leaked. Various non-canon Pokémon stories were also discovered.

Games

Notes

1. Japanese: 株式会社ゲームフリーク, Hepburn: Kabushiki gaisha Gēmu Furīku

References

1. "会社概要｜GAME FREAK 株式会社ゲームフリーク｜GAME FREAK 株式会社ゲームフリーク". GAME FREAK 株式会社ゲームフリーク オフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). Retrieved July 4, 2020.
2. "GAME FREAK Secret Base for GAME FREAK's 30th Anniversary | GAME FREAK". GAME FREAK Secret Base for GAME FREAK's 30th Anniversary | GAME FREAK. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
3. 宮昌太朗; 田尻智 (2004). ポケモンをつくった男 田尻智 [Satoshi Tajiri: A Man Who Created Pokémon]. 太田出版. ISBN 978-4872338331.
4. "Interview: Tajiri and Ishihara on Pokemon's Beginnings". November 25, 2020. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2021. Dr Lava's notes: Before it was a video game company, Game Freak was a gaming magazine Tajiri hand-wrote and stapled together from home in the early 1980's.
5. Satoshi Tajiri (January 6, 1989). ぼくたちゲーセン野郎. Family Computer Magazine (in Japanese): 114–115. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
6. Satoshi Tajiri (August 1, 1986). ビデヲゲーム通信. Biweekly Famicom Journal (in Japanese). Retrieved November 29, 2015.
7. Kohler, Chris (April 19, 2010). "Pokémon Creators' Fanzine Fetches High Price". Wired. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
8. Gifford, Kevin (April 7, 2008). "COLUMN: 'Game Mag Weaseling': Just Checking In". GameSetWatch. Archived from the original on April 12, 2008. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
9. Swider, Matt (March 22, 2007). "The Pokemon Series Pokedex". Gaming Target. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
10. Lamoreux, Ben (October 27, 2015). "Pokémon Developer Game Freak Has Purchased a Mobile Game Development Company". Gamnesia. Archived from the original on May 23, 2021.
11. "（法人名）の情報｜国税庁法人番号公表サイト".
12. Robinson, Andy (May 22, 2019). "Game Freak 'prioritising' original game projects". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
13. Robinson, Andy (July 8, 2019). "Game Freak interview: 'We're trying to create something more than Pokémon'". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
14. Sahdev, Ishaan (February 3, 2020). "Game Freak Is Moving Closer to Nintendo's Headquarters". Siliconera. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
15. ^ Welsh, Oli (October 14, 2024). "Pokémon developer Game Freak suffers massive data leak". Polygon. Archived from the original on October 14, 2024. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
16. McFerran, Damien (October 16, 2024). "Unreleased Yoshi's Egg Remake For Nintendo DS Breaks Cover Online". Time Extension. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
17. "Pocket Card Jockey for Nintendo 3DS". Nintendo of America, Inc. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
18. Good, Owen (January 18, 2019). "Game Freak's Giga Wrecker is coming to consoles in 2019". Polygon. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
19. Marks, Tom (September 4, 2019). "Game Freak's Little Town Hero Releases Next Month". IGN. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
20. Romano, Sal (January 3, 2023). "Game Freak announces Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! for Apple Arcade". Gematsu. Archived from the original on January 3, 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
21. Romano, Sal (June 20, 2024). "Game Freak and WonderPlanet announce free-to-play sailing adventure RPG PAND LAND for iOS, Android". Gematsu. Archived from the original on June 20, 2024. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
22. Rousseau, Jeffrey (May 9, 2023). "Private Division and Game Freak team up for new IP Project Bloom". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on May 9, 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2023.

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Game Freak at IGN

• Japanese companies established in 1989
• Software companies based in Tokyo
• Video game companies established in 1989
• Video game companies of Japan
• Pokémon
• Video game development companies