Gamefreak: Mainline Pokemon Games Output/Discussion Thread

[Tialo]

I expect Switch 2 to have some improved online and AR features. Due to this, I think that they will connect future Pokemon games more to mobile games like new TCG - and Switch 2 version of Legends ZA will be the start for this

 

[Aleh]

I would be fine with remakes being outsourced and faithful… if they made them look pretty and at least had overworld encounters. SOMETHING to make them feel worth it. BDSP wasn’t it lol

 

[Kmds]

We already got two remakes on Switch though, so the pattern no longer holds up.

Personally, I think that they are pretty much done with remakes after BW/BW2 as anything beyond that gets increasingly complex and redundant, so might as well release this one on Switch and be done with it.

I disagree, I think it's totally imaginable to make remakes of gen 6 and 7, it'll be harder for gen 8 and 9 but in the 2030/40's, it will definitely be great to revisit gen 8 and 9 but with far more expanded worlds.

Remakes in the style of previous games will definitely continue imo but the real question is will we get a Let's go Johto.

 

[ILikeFeet]

We already got two remakes on Switch though, so the pattern no longer holds up.

Personally, I think that they are pretty much done with remakes after BW/BW2 as anything beyond that gets increasingly complex and redundant, so might as well release this one on Switch and be done with it.

considering how they tried to make Let's Go a "thing", I'm not sure if I would say it's a break from the norm yet. despite being the first Pokemon game on Switch, Legends got a sequel before it did

 

[Aostia82]

considering how they tried to make Let's Go a "thing", I'm not sure if I would say it's a break from the norm yet. despite being the first Pokemon game on Switch, Legends got a sequel before it did

I think we should wait and see if "Let's GO" will come back around Switch 2 launch: it COULD be seen as an "entry-level-entry" for newcomers to bring them onboard on a new generation of console where, after that, they can start enjoying also the other "normal" games proposed

 

[fiendcode]

I wonder how they'll handle Black 2/White 2 considering they are completely different games. It'd be a shame if they just moved on to X/Y after B/W

Pokémon Jet Black Books I & II
Pokémon Pure White Books I & II

 

[Djehuty]

It’s worth noting remakes have always been 1 a very constant 5 or 6 years apart thing.

 

[Tialo]

It’s worth noting remakes have always been 1 a very constant 5 or 6 years apart thing.

Yes but only if we ignore Lets Go PE, because then we talk about only 3 years in the last cycle

 

[ILikeFeet]

Yes but only if we ignore Lets Go PE, because then we talk about only 3 years in the last cycle

I think it's questionable that we even get another Let's Go game

 

[Digikiki]

I remember hearing that SV had a lot of staff overlap with Legends, presumably because they were doing anything they could to get that game out on time. Was that true? If so, would that have any effect on the development of this game?

 

[ILikeFeet]

I remember hearing that SV had a lot of staff overlap with Legends, presumably because they were doing anything they could to get that game out on time. Was that true? If so, would that have any effect on the development of this game?

I haven't checked, but given GF have 2(+) teams, and these games are made at the same time, I would say they wouldn't affect each other unless one was in dire straights

 

[Wockio]

I remember hearing that SV had a lot of staff overlap with Legends, presumably because they were doing anything they could to get that game out on time. Was that true? If so, would that have any effect on the development of this game?

I haven't checked, but given GF have 2(+) teams, and these games are made at the same time, I would say they wouldn't affect each other unless one was in dire straights

Arceus has 655 names in its credits

449 of those people worked on Scarlet and Violet

Pokémon Legends: Arceus credits (Nintendo Switch, 2022) - MobyGames

The official game credits for Pokémon Legends: Arceus released on Nintendo Switch in 2022. The credits include 655 people.

www.mobygames.com

There is no such thing as "Team A" and "Team B" aside from creative leads, people within the company are shuffled around between projects according to their skillset

 

[Astrogamer]

Arceus has 655 names in its credits

449 of those people worked on Scarlet and Violet

Pokémon Legends: Arceus credits (Nintendo Switch, 2022) - MobyGames

The official game credits for Pokémon Legends: Arceus released on Nintendo Switch in 2022. The credits include 655 people.

www.mobygames.com

There is no such thing as "Team A" and "Team B" aside from creative leads, people within the company are shuffled around between projects according to their skillset

Remember you have to discount localization and debug as those are going to heavily overlap. Also Special Thanks and most of the Nintendo credited staff. There's still a lot of overlap after that but it's not as big of that percentage.

 

[Lelouch0612]

Let's Go, as an in-house GF project, is a dead-end the moment Legends was successful. It made sense given Go's explosion in 2016 and the need for a Pokemon game on Switch.

It does raise the question on how they will capitalize on the older games in the future.

 

[ILikeFeet]

The Pokémon Company in Japan have set up a new subsidiary: Pokémon Works.
The trademark just got pushed and the company was registered a week ago.
No idea what the company is for at this time. Will let you all know

This company is set up in Shinjuku in Tokyo in the same building as ILCA.

maybe a studio for spinoffs?

 

[Lelouch0612]

maybe a studio for spinoffs?

Might be a studio to coordinate work with external partners. ILCA has involvement in the main games and the mobile games notably.

 

[Luke88]

Might be a studio to coordinate work with external partners. ILCA has involvement in the main games and the mobile games notably.

Possibly a bridge studio between ILCA and GF? ILCA probably needs to hire people for the games now that they're branching off, so might aswell set up a co-development team that is under TPCI's control so that these new employees are always dedicated to Pokémon.

 

[Koni]

maybe a studio for spinoffs?

Joe Merrick goes on to speculate that the subsidiary is more likely being created for support than spinoff development. Honestly a good sign if true. A dedicated support studio for mainline Pokemon games is something the franchise really needs in addition to more time.

 

[Serebii]

It's worth noting that outside of BDSP, ILCA has done support work for the following games

Pokémon HOME - Maintaining the mobile version
Pokémon Sleep - Aided in various parts of development
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet - Aided in some planning

Above all else, even beyond Pokémon, ILCA has been great at supporting a variety of games' development, or porting others.

 

[Koni]

Luke Plunkett of Aftermath did an interview with Don McGowan, who was once the Chief Legal Officer and Business Affairs of The Pokemon Company, among other things:

Pokémon's Former Chief Lawyer On Shutting Down Fan Games & Honeymoon Business Deals - Aftermath

Welcome to 'What I Do', a new interview series on Aftermath

aftermath.site

It's a short interview, but I'm posting it here mainly for this exerpt:

LP: Before we wrap up, as a games journalist who has covered the scene extensively, this is something I've always wondered and have never got the chance to ask: how does The Pokémon Company handle Cease & Desist letters with regards to fan projects? How did you find them, and where did you draw the line on what's allowed and what the company thinks needs to be shut down?

DM: Short answer: thanks to you folks. I would be sitting in my office minding my own business when someone from the company would send me a link to a news article, or I would stumble across it myself. I teach Entertainment Law at the University of Washington and say this to my students: the worst thing on earth is when your "fan" project gets press, because now I know about you.

LP: Oh. Oh no.

DM: But that's not the end of the equation. You don't send a takedown right away. You wait to see if they get funded (for a Kickstarter or similar); if they get funded then that's when you engage. No one likes suing fans.

LP: Surely somebody does, but that's another story for another day. Thanks for your time!

It might be confirmation of what we already know, but it's still interesting to hear.

 

[ILikeFeet]

LP: Surely somebody does, but that's another story for another day. Thanks for your time!

just had to get that last word in

 

[ILikeFeet]

this comes from CentroLEAKS, whom aren't great citations, but it's what we got until corroboration

UPDATE: Our speculation has been confirmed.

The full list of directors of Pokémon Works has been revealed.

- Takuya Iwasaki (Representative Director of ILCA)
- Takanori Sowa (Director of The Pokémon Company)
- Masao Iuchi (Supervisor of the local subsidiary 'Pokémon (Shanghai) Toys Co., Ltd.')
- Hirohisa Iijima (Unknown)
- Satoshi Takamori (Director of ILCA)

The company main bussiness is "contracted development of games related to Pokémon".

This confirms this is a joint venture between ILCA and The Pokémon Company.

 

[Quinton]

Yeah. The lack of citation is always a sore spot for me with them. But so it goes.

It's good info.

 

[Lelouch0612]

Black/White remake for 2024 isn't dead yet.

 

[MegaXZero]

All hail the chibi overlords. Guess Pokemon money is pretty good. It might not be loved but those remakes still sold very well and it takes a load off Gamefreak.

 

[Lelouch0612]

All hail the chibi overlords. Guess Pokemon money is pretty good. It might not be loved but those remakes still sold very well and it takes a load off Gamefreak.

They will also have one additional year of development vs BD/SP, with a part of the grunt work already down.

Artstyle change might be possible.

 

[Mekanos]

I have zero problem with the chibi style, personally. I think it's the least of BDSP's problems.

 

[Sealife01]

The reason why BDSP was bad is because they are based on Diamond and Pearl who were "bad" games. Platinum was the superior game who many fans mix into their thoughts of Diamond and Pearl. BDSP was also hindered by their short development time. ILCA if they have better time and looser strings could make good Pokemon games.

 

[Nokia]

Black/White remake for 2024 isn't dead yet.

Nah, it would've been announced already if it were coming this year. There's no reason why a 2025 Pokemon title would be announced before a 2024 one.

 

[ILikeFeet]

do we know how ILCA even functions internally? are they like Nintendo EPD where they have a large pool of devs who move around ILCA/Project Aces/ORCA/Pokemon Works?

 

[Digikiki]

Man this sucks. I've been feeling burnt out on Pokémon for quite a while now, and no announcement made me happier than knowing that I'd be able to go a year without any new mainline content coming out. But this really feels like we're back to square one again. We might not get a game this year, but they're almost certainly still going to do everything they can in the future to make sure every other year has a new release.
Having a new game every year is excessive for any game series and having different developers for the games won't change my opinion on that.

 

[Lelouch0612]

Beyond potential remakes, this probably solidify ILCA as a strong co-dev partner for the upcoming Pokémon games.

Man this sucks. I've been feeling burnt out on Pokémon for quite a while now, and no announcement made me happier than knowing that I'd be able to go a year without any new mainline content coming out. But this really feels like we're back to square one again. We might not get a game this year, but they're almost certainly still going to do everything they can in the future to make sure every other year has a new release.
Having a new game every year is excessive for any game series and having different developers for the games won't change my opinion on that.

There were no new game in 2023.

 

[Digikiki]

There were no new game in 2023.

There was DLC though. When I say "game" I just mean "new mainline content".

 

[Nokia]

There was DLC though. When I say "game" I just mean "new mainline content".

Why would DLC be bad to release? It's nowhere near as costly as a new mainline title and allows new generations to be in the spotlight alone for 2 years as opposed to 1, giving more time for future games to cook. Hell, they could try making DLC for the Legends games if they wanted for the new generations to have the 4 year development cycle everyone wants them to get.

 

[brutaka3]

Also saw this first on Centro Leaks, but it looks like the Latin American Spanish translation is finally coming, starting with Pokémon GO.

Interesting, Pokémon GO version 0.305.0 has a new Latin American Spanish localization in the files

Centro Leaks shared that and it has also been sharing a lot of the new attack names and changes. They also affirm the first mainline game to have it will be Pokémon Legends: Z-A

Con base en nuestras fuentes, Pokémon Legends: Z-A será el primer juego de la saga principal en incorporar la nueva traducción a español latino.

Glad that is finally coming, I know many already do it (like Nintendo itself), but I wish more companies started realizing that Latin American Spanish has a lot of differences from European Spanish, so having different translations is better for everyone.

 

[Digikiki]

Why would DLC be bad to release? It's nowhere near as costly as a new mainline title and allows new generations to be in the spotlight alone for 2 years as opposed to 1, giving more time for future games to cook. Hell, they could try making DLC for the Legends games if they wanted for the new generations to have the 4 year development cycle everyone wants them to get.

It's not bad to release. I'd much prefer DLC to a new game. But I'd rather get nothing than DLC.
The ideal release cycle for me would be something like: Legends, nothing, new gen, nothing. I'm very aware that that's a minority opinion though, haha.

 

[Astrogamer]

do we know how ILCA even functions internally? are they like Nintendo EPD where they have a large pool of devs who move around ILCA/Project Aces/ORCA/Pokemon Works?

That is generally how most multiproject studios function. ILCA has a little too few credits to do a proper analysis of how they are set up. Something Bandai Namco Aces and Pokemon Works imply a sort of separate entity that implies a consistent team distinct from the general ILCA staff.

 

[AuroraMusisAmica]

Whatever gets me closer to putting the elemental monkies in my Home dex, I'm all for it.

 

[Koni]

this comes from CentroLEAKS, whom aren't great citations, but it's what we got until corroboration

So is ILCA building a Pokemon support studio within their company titled Pokemon Works, or what? I guess this may also confirm that ILCA'll be sticking around to help develop Pokemon games. Hopefully they work on ironign this out because this in concept will be good for the brand in the long term. JUst need to work on things.

 

[ILikeFeet]

it seems that CentroLeak's source was some searchable registration documents. google translate gives me the names they listed, but if anyone can do a proper translation to confirm, that'd be great

sauce:

Pokémon Main Series and Spinoff Rumors, Leaks, Speculation and Discussion Thread (SPOILERS) News - Rumor - Spoiler

The source is the legal entity registration document of Pokemon Works, which can be retrieved by some search services in Japan. The link to the document: https://we.tl/t-eAWbLtnYmU

www.resetera.com

So is ILCA building a Pokemon support studio within their company titled Pokemon Works, or what? I guess this may also confirm that ILCA'll be sticking around to help develop Pokemon games. Hopefully they work on ironign this out because this in concept will be good for the brand in the long term. JUst need to work on things.

TPC just needs not not rush products out the door. I don't blame ILCA for how their game turned out

 

[Koni]

it seems that CentroLeak's source was some searchable registration documents. google translate gives me the names they listed, but if anyone can do a proper translation to confirm, that'd be great

sauce:

Pokémon Main Series and Spinoff Rumors, Leaks, Speculation and Discussion Thread (SPOILERS) News - Rumor - Spoiler

The source is the legal entity registration document of Pokemon Works, which can be retrieved by some search services in Japan. The link to the document: https://we.tl/t-eAWbLtnYmU

www.resetera.com

TPC just needs not not rush products out the door. I don't blame ILCA for how their game turned out

Yeah, I dont think ILCA was the problem, per se. BDSP were pretty dang rushed and that's likely not their fault, it's that dang release cadence.