While it has produced several other titles throughout its history, Game Freak has discussed its hopes for a future beyond developing Pokemon games. The company has been around for over 30 years, and in that time, Game Freak has made a name for itself primarily for developing the beloved Pokemon RPG series that has been exclusive to Nintendo consoles ever since the release of Pokemon Red and Blue on the Game Boy.
Before Game Freak developed video games, it was a self-published video game magazine created by one Satoshi Tajiri. He was eventually joined by Ken Sugimori and Junichi Masuda in establishing Game Freak in 1989. The company's first title was a puzzle game, Mendel Palace, followed by several other titles for various Nintendo and Sega systems before Pokemon Red and Blue. Game Freak has continued to develop Pokemon games since then, continuing the franchise into its 9th generation, and the resoundingly successful sales of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet continue the trend that the franchise has maintained since its inception.
In an interview with VGC, Masao Taya, director of several of Game Freak's original games, discussed the company's Apple Arcade title, Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On!, which originally released on the 3DS. Taya discussed the company's difficulties with developing for mobile, which would require a free-to-play model, and how the Apple Arcade model allows it to monetize the game without adding microtransactions. He also discussed the challenge of developing new, original titles alongside working on Pokemon games and lamented the upcoming closure of the Nintendo 3DS eShop, which will render Game Freak titles like HarmoKnight and the original Pocket Card Jockey unavailable.
If Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! performs well on Apple Arcade, Game Freak may begin remaking more of its original games for the platform, and perhaps it might even develop more ambitious games specifically designed to take full advantage of Apple's ecosystem. Apple Arcade seems to be slowly and steadily growing into one of the most competitive gaming platforms and has attracted over 100 million subscribers, more than double the reported 36 million subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online.
Masao Taya acknowledged that eShop closures were inevitable and unavoidable while saying that he personally felt a sting. Perhaps the move to Apple Arcade will help preserve Game Freak titles like Pocket Card Jockey and make them available to new players for many years to come. Apple is known for its model of stable, iterative improvements to hardware in contrast to Nintendo's history of releasing new systems that completely diverge from the established norm. The platform's stability is certainly appealing to companies like Game Freak, as well as gamers, who are often frustrated when older games are either unavailable or incompatible with newer systems.
Source: VGC
