Game Freak, the developer of many of the Pokemon titles, is working on a samurai game. The studio will be working together with Private Division, the video game publisher behind The Outer Worlds and Hades. Michael Worosz, head of Private Division, said the publisher is honored to work with Game Freak as its first western collaborator.
Originally, Game Freak started out as a video game magazine in the 1980s. In 1989, the video game company with the same name was born. Throughout its history, Game Freak worked closely with Nintendo, creating games like Yoshi, Mario & Wario, and the Pokemon series. While Game Freak started out with a wider variety of titles, its more recent history was dominated by Pokemon. In 2019, then-director Masayuki Onoue said the developer increasingly prioritizes original titles in the hopes to grow the experience of its staff. Since then, Game Freak produced three original games: Giga Wrecker, Little Town Hero, and Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On.
The developer's brand-new game is currently titled "Project Bloom." It's going to be an action-adventure game, and according to Kota Furushima, director of Game Freak, it's going to be very different compared to what fans have been used to with the Pokemon series. Furushima said they're very excited about being able to create a new IP that is very different in tone from the previous titles. He went on to describe the project as "bold." According to Furushima, the plan from the beginning was to work with Private Division as Game Freak is very impressed by the publisher's international expertise and track record of previous games. While Furushima said the studio is very excited to talk about Project Bloom in the future, for the time being, very little is known about it.
With the announcement, Game Freak and Private Division shared a piece of concept art, which shows a samurai-like figure standing in an ancient forest. Already the image promises an ambitious visual world that fans will likely be excited to uncover. While Game Freak is very closely tied to Nintendo, based on its latest original titles, it's clear it has a desire to work with other creators and broaden its horizons. At the moment, there is no information on what platforms Project Bloom will be available on.
For now, the only things known are Project Bloom is in early development and its release can be expected between April 2025 and March 2026. Game Freak fans will have to be patient, but if the concept art is anything to go by, it'll be worth the wait.
Project Bloom is currently in development.
Source: IGN