Game Freak facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Game Freak Inc.

Headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo
Native name	株式会社ゲームフリーク
Romanized name	Gēmu Furīku
Type	Private KK
Industry	Video games
Genre	Video game development
Founded	April 26, 1989; 36 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)

Game Freak Inc. is a Japanese video game developer famous for creating the Pokémon series of role-playing video games. They are one of the main owners of the Pokémon brand, along with Nintendo and Creatures Inc..

History

From Magazine to Game Company

Before Game Freak was a video game company, it was a magazine about video games. It was started in the 1980s by Satoshi Tajiri. He wrote the first issue himself in 1983. Soon after, an artist named Ken Sugimori found the magazine in a store, loved it, and joined Tajiri to draw for it.

On April 26, 1989, Tajiri, Sugimori, and their friend Junichi Masuda decided to start their own company to make video games. They kept the name Game Freak. One of their first games was Quinty, a puzzle game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. In North America, it was called Mendel Palace.

The Birth of Pokémon

Game Freak's most famous creation is Pokémon. The name is a shorter way of saying the original Japanese brand name, Pocket Monsters. The first Pokémon games were published by Nintendo and became a huge success all over the world. Today, the games are managed by The Pokémon Company, which Game Freak co-owns.

Making More Than Pokémon

In May 2019, Game Freak announced that it wanted its employees to create more original games. The company started a program called the Gear Project. This program lets creators suggest new game ideas when they are not busy with bigger projects.

This has led to several unique games, including:

• HarmoKnight
• Pocket Card Jockey
• Tembo the ... Elephant
• Giga Wrecker

Recent Events

In February 2020, Game Freak moved its main office to a new building in Tokyo. They now share the building with Nintendo's Tokyo team, showing how closely the two companies work together.

In 2024, the company had a security problem. Outsiders were able to get into the company's computer servers and access private information. This included early versions and ideas for past and future Pokémon games. The company confirmed that this happened and that some personal information about its employees was also affected.

Games

Here is a list of many of the video games developed by Game Freak over the years.

See also

In Spanish: Game Freak para niños